


Yule have a Ball

by BeccaBluejay



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Are you Sirius?, Christmas, Drarrython, Fluff, Hogwarts Fourth Year, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I swear this is better than it sounds, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Sleepy Harry, Triwizard Tournament, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-06-28 22:42:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 34,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15716580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaBluejay/pseuds/BeccaBluejay
Summary: A peek at Harry and Draco's tentative relationship after the Yule Ball and during the rest of their fourth year at Hogwarts.





	1. Flustered Draco, Tired AF Harry.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy the first installment of my sort of Yule Ball series! Please kudos and comment!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had to change the timeline a bit so he finds out the second task a bit sooner etc. But other than that, I don't think I've (consciously) changed anything else. Enjoy!

Harry excused himself from the Gryffindor table halfway through dinner. "To go take a bath" he had said. Instead, he was going to suck up his pride and take Diggory's advice. So, really, he _was_ going to take a bath. But, being the idiot that he was, he didn't plan this and now had to go all the way back to the dormitory and then all the way to the Prefect bathroom _then_ back to the dorms. He hurried down the corridors, hoping to get in and out of the dorms before people finished dinner. Being under the Invisibility Cloak had its perks but not in a crowd full of people, especially not when you're trying to go unnoticed. He had learned that in Honeydukes. The only sounds were his footsteps echoing around the halls. When another pair of footsteps joined his own, he didn't think anything of it. Ok, well, internally he groaned but he _really_ wanted to get this over and done with.

"Potter!" This time, Harry groaned out loud. "What do you want Malfoy? I'm not in the mood for this." Draco quirked an eyebrow and leaned against a tapestry on the wall. "That's not a very nice greeting." He muttered. Harry rolled his eyes. "Since when have we been nice to each other?" "Touchè." An awkward and heavy silence descended over the two. Draco seemed to be internally debating something. One moment he's frowning, another he looks to be contemplating something then he's frowning and shaking his head. A lot of emotions danced across his usually impassive features. Of course, Harry being a clueless, emotionally blind cinnamon roll, he didn't see any of this. He kept his eyes riveted on the tapestry, just above Draco's head. It was a lovely tapestry of a nice, um, beheading. Yes, a wonderful tapestry.

"Potter...." Draco began. Then stopped. "Potter I have a...." He tried again. Harry sighed. "Malfoy, I have a lot of things to do. Spit out the insult and we can move on." He said tiredly. Draco huffed. "Why must it always be an insult I say to you?" He snapped. "Am I that incapable of being..... nice?" Harry raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You weren't even nice to me when you asked me to be your friend!" Draco raised his hand, offended. "I will have you know, I was nice to you. It was the Weasel I wasn't nice to." He corrected. "So?" Harry frowned, daring Draco to say something else. "So, you're wrong. As usual." Harry growled and threw up his hands. "Whatever Malfoy. I'm leaving. Bugger off, you prat." Harry turned around and stormed off, leaving Draco standing there. Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, that's not how _that_ was supposed to go." He murmured.

Harry reached the portrait hole, still annoyed and barked the password at the Fat Lady. She gasped, affronted. "How dare you? Rude! People are so rude these days!" Harry rolled his eyes at her antics. "Just open will you?!" She swung open, still rambling on about young people having no respect for portraits nowadays. He stomped through the common room and kneeled beside his trunk. He yanked out the Marauders Map, the egg and, gently, took out the Invisibility Cloak. Still grumbling to himself, he threw on the cloak, adjusted the egg underneath his arm and tapped the map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He surveyed the map. Mrs. Noris was prowling around the second floor and everyone ( except Malfoy ) was still in the Great Hall. He nodded and strode out of the dorms.

As he made his way to the Prefect's bathroom, he found Draco wandering around near where they had spoken. He was muttering to himself and gesturing. "No. That's not going to work. Hey, I like you, go to the Yule Ball with me? Well..... it's certainly simpler to do it that way. Not much pizzazz though, is it?" Harry raised an eyebrow. Malfoy was planning to ask someone to the Yule Ball? _I wonder who the poor girl is? She'll probably be traumatised for life....._ Harry refrained from kicking Malfoy in the shins and continued on. Although he did flick him in the back of the head. Draco spun around, eyes wide. "Who's there?" He demanded into the empty corridor. He looked around for the perpetrator but Harry had already ran off. He has stuff to do after all.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
Harry climbed out of the bath, making 100% sure that Myrtle wasn't looking. He was still reeling from the revelation that he had to encounter mermaids. In the lake. He was completely out of his depth. People probably already knew about it though. Rumors were probably trickling through the school already.  
He pulled on the Invisibility Cloak and walked out of the bathroom, leaving behind a disappointed Myrtle. He made his way through the corridors, keeping one eye on the map for Filch. He was still in a daze and couldn't stop repeating _mermaids_ in his mind. I mean, mermaids! Why mermaids? Why not unicorns? Or even Hippogriffs. He'd take a Hippogriff over mermaids any day. And how deep down to the mermaids live? Harry was drowning in his thoughts. So much so that he forgot about the vanishing step and fell through it.

The egg fell out of his arm and bounced down the stairs, opening and wailing a siren through the castle, screaming "Hey, hey! Harry's here, come catch him out of bed after hours!" Filch arrived with Mrs. Noris on his heels, and then Snape arrived, finding the map and piecing the puzzle together. He was a hair's breadth away from finding Harry, but Mad Eye came along and saved him. Harry left the encounter heart pumping, nerves frazzled and mapless. When he arrived at the portrait hole, he had to clap his hand over his mouth to stifle a groan.

Malfoy stood in front of the Fat Lady, whispering something to her. The Fat Lady giggled like a school girl and nodded furtively. Malfoy smirked knowingly and nodded his thanks, beginning to walk away. He almost grazed against Harry's arm and he had to quickly jerk away to avoid him. Draco turned around, a quizzical expression on his face that quickly cleared to understanding. He smiled softly. Fixing his gaze just left of Harry, he opened his mouth and chuckled lowly. "Goodnight." He murmured. And turned away, leaving Harry in turmoil. He can't have known that Harry was there, right? He was just saying goodnight to the Fat Lady, right? Ohhhh he needed sleep. Harry climbed through the portrait hole and made his way to the boy's dorms where he fell onto his bed face first. The cloak slipped off him and he stuffed it under his pillow. Ron turned over and mumbled "Not the spiders." Harry sighed and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
The next day, Hermione had dragged them to the library in search of solutions to the little problem of being unable to breath under water for more than thirty seconds...... When Harry had told her about the song she went all crazy, super excited to learn new things and figure out solutions to problems she'll never have in life ever again. They spent hours in the library poring over old dusty books with tiny writing. They went from morning right through till the evening. The three left the library at closing time, only for Harry to return afterwards, under the Invisibility Cloak. He roamed through the shelves, even the Restricted Section, taking down books that had anything related to water in the title. He sat down in between the stacks of books he created, beside the window, on the floor. He spent hours there, and he only got through one quarter of his pile. At three am, he decided to go back to the tower. He still hadn't found anything that could help him with the task. He made his way back to the dorms slowly. Every few steps he yawned and his eyes drooped, heavy with exhaustion. When he got to the portrait hole however, his eyes sprang wide open and he swore.

Malfoy was there _again._ He was glancing around the corridor as if he was waiting for someone and every so often his silver eyes darted to the Fat Lady. Harry advanced cautiously, trying to be as silent as possible. When Draco glanced at the Fat Lady, she winked at him and he grinned lazily. He straightened up at brushed off his sweater. He was wearing a cream sweater and black skinny jeans. It seems that even Draco wore Muggle chic on the weekends. "Hello Harry." He murmured.

Harry froze. _What?_ Draco glanced at the Fat Lady again, who looked away in a different direction. Directly at Harry. Draco loped towards him slowly, a small smirk on his face. He stopped directly in front of him and cocked his head to the side, as if he could see him. "You know, this conversation would be much easier if I could see you." He commented casually. He was still speaking in that low, sexy- _wait, no, not sexy, no_ \- voice. Draco rolled his eyes and stepped forward, hand raised. He tugged on the cloak and it slipped like water through his fingers, revealing a very shocked Harry. Draco smiled. "There. That's better." Harry blinked. Repeatedly. "How did you.....?" He whispered. Draco smirked slyly. It was strange, he smirked all the time but they always carried different emotions. He shrugged and let his gaze drift lazily to the Fat Lady who was grinning like Cheshire Cat. "I had some help." Harry opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He was too tired for this stuff. He rubbed his eyes, trying to keep them open. Draco smiled softly. A real smile. From Draco Malfoy.

"I won't keep you long." He murmured. "I just wanted to ask. Hey, I like you, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?" Harry felt his mouth drop open. _He_ was the poor girl who was going to be traumatised?! Not that he was going to say yes. I mean, sure, he has caught himself staring at the blond a little bit too much lately. And yes, he has had to stop certain thoughts from entering his head. But that doesn't mean he's gonna say yes. Pff. Not at all..... _oh_ _Merlin._ Draco waited patiently for him to say something. "Not much pizzazz, is there?" Harry eventually mumbled. Draco mock frowned in anger. "I knew that was you. That hurt, you know." "Yes." Draco narrowed his eyes. "Yes, you know it hurt or yes, I'll go with you to the ball?" "Yes, I'll go with you to the ball." Draco looked shocked for a moment before his features changed into a beaming smile. "Good, uh, that's, yes. Ok. Uh. I did not prepare a reply." Harry sighed. He was to tired for this stuff. He grabbed Draco by the sweater and pulled him forward. Harry's lips met Draco's in a soft kiss. Draco stumbled backward, in shock. Harry waved. "Balderdash. Night. Oh, colour coordination, I like silver, but green works too." And then he promptly climbed through the portrait hole. Draco glanced wildly from the Fat Lady to where Harry had stood a mere seconds before. "Well, that's not what I expected to happen."


	2. The Actual Yule Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh.... They go to the Yule Ball. Cue the fluff!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the second installment of this series! Please kudos and comment!

The next morning, Harry realised what had happened. He, Harry Potter, had agreed to go to the Yule Ball with Draco Malfoy. They had kissed! Oh Merlin..... He walked down to the Great Hall alone. Due to his late night's, he had woken up late and Ron and Hermione had gone down to breakfast without him. Thankfully, it was Sunday so he didn't need to  pretend to focus in class. I mean, cause, how could he focus?! He had kissed Draco Malfoy! Voluntarily! He had _initiated_ it! When he walked into the Great Hall his gaze immediately searched for Draco. His green eyes met Draco's grey ones and he felt his face heat up at the memory of the night before. Draco smirked devilishly and winked discreetly at him. Harry yelped slightly and hurried over to the Gryffindor table.

He sat down between Ron and Neville. Hermione was no where to be seen. Harry turned to Ron. "Where's Hermione?" He asked. "Lib'ary." Ron garbled. As usual, he had to try and speak around the food he had stuffed his face with. "Are you ok Harry? You look a bit red." Neville asked cautiously. Harry felt himself go even redder. He mumbled a quick "fine thanks" and grabbed a piece of toast just before the food disappeared. Harry looked sadly at his piece of plain toast. He sighed and stood up. He needed to owl Sirius and since it seemed that he wasn't going to get any breakfast, he might as well do it now.

Ron insisted on tagging along. Ever since he had came to his senses about Harry _not_ putting his name in the Goblet of Fire ( because yeah, sure, glory and gold. But. _DEATH._ ), he insisted on doing everything with Harry. It was a nice show of friendship but.....it gets a bit....annoying. On the way out of the Owlery, they ran into Cho Chang. She blinked shyly at Harry and moved to go into the Owlery before turning back to the two boys. She smiled seductively at Harry and batted her eyelashes.

"Harry, would you like to go to the ball with me?" She asked boldly. "Oh,uh, I have a date already, sorry." Harry replied awkwardly. Ron stared at him, boggled. "You have a date?!" He repeated. "Since when?!" Harry paled. Oh dear. "Uh, since last night." Cho looked disappointed. "Oh. Who?" She asked bluntly. Harry laughed nervously. "What?" "Who's your date?" Cho persisted. Harry panicked. Both Cho and Ron were waiting for an answer and they were staring at him intensely. "Uhhh, pff, you probably won't know who it is." He stuttered. Cho frowned. "I might know her. Describe her." She ordered. "Uh, blonde, yay high, um, hot."

Harry had to make sure his face hadn't burst into flames. He had just called Draco hot! He had just called Draco, Draco! Cho seemed unpleased with his answer. She sniffed disapprovingly and with a flick of her hair, flounced into the Owlery. Harry and Ron began to walk back to the library. Ron glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me you have a date? Now I'm the only one without one. Even Neville has one!" He looked miserably angry. Harry felt guilt curdle in his stomach. "I still can't believe I have a date." He said honestly. Ron grumbled unintelligibly under his breath. He remained in a foul mood till dinner, which Harry skipped to escape the black cloud hovering over Ron but when he got back to the dorms, he felt nothing but concern for his best friend.

Ron was completely horrified at his attempt to ask Fleur to the ball. He gibbered weakly as Hermione patted his hand consolingly. She exchanged a look with Harry and he nodded. Enough was enough. He strode over to Parvati and Lavender and asked them if they knew someone who would go with Ron. Parvati offered to ask her sister who, luckily , said yes. Feeling off put, Harry strode back over to Ron to give him the good news. _Why do girls giggle so much?_ He was so glad he was going with a boy.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
"I look like my Great Aunt." Ron whispered in horror. He was looking at himself in the mirror and plucking at the frills frantically. He looked at Harry. "I look like my Great Aunt Tessie!" Harry tried not to laugh. He was surprisingly excited for the ball and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Giant mutant, venomous man eating butterflies that were trying to eat him alive from the inside. Ok, he was also decidedly nervous. Ron looked close to tears. "Murder me Harry." He couldn't keep the grin off his face. "I'm sure once you burn off the frills it'll be fine." He said. Ron snorted unattractively in anger.  "Says you! You look fine! Look at you! At least you have normal robes!"

Harry was wearing the robes Molly had got him and a silvery grey bowtie which, in his opinion, made him look like a reversed penguin. He had slicked back his hair too, which in his eyes only added to the penguin look. Harry frowned. "I look like an inverted penguin." He muttered. But Ron was to preoccupied with burning off the frills that fringed his robes _everywhere._ Harry grimaced. "Come on. We'd better go. Padma will be waiting for you." He added. Ron nodded sullenly. They walked down to the Entrance Hall, where practically half the population of Hogwarts were waiting. Harry kept an eye out for Hermione and Draco. Hermione had been very secretive about the ball. And as for Draco, Harry hadn't spoken to him since that night outside the common room a week ago.

But, the previous evening, when he had gone to the library after hours, as he'd made a habit of doing over the past week, on top of his stack of books he'd found a little black box with a silvery grey bowtie inside and a note saying:

_Wear it? x D_

Harry let his gaze drift across the crowd, in search of a certain blonde. They were standing beside Padma now, who was gazing at Ron disappointedly. "You look...dashing." she said hesitantly. Ron grunted. "Where's Hermione?" He asked. Harry shrugged, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe it was all a joke. Maybe, right now, him and Pansy were laughing at him. Maybe, right now, Draco was telling the tale of how Potter _kissed him-_ Draco grinned at him from across the room. Harry let out a shakey breath. _Merlin, he looks good._ Draco wore black robes, which made his eyes startlingly silver. His hair fell naturally over his forehead. Harry never knew it was that long and had a sudden urge to floof it. _He wore a silver bowtie._ Beside him, Ron began to freak out; he had just seen Hermione with Krum. But Harry didn't notice him because _Draco was walking towards him._ Oh, his hands were sweaty. He turned to Ron. "Uh, I've seen my date. The doors are opening so you should probably go in." He turned to Padma. "Sorry, he's in a foul mood. Just kick him if he's being an ass." To Ron again. "Dance with her. More than twice. And smile!" He gently shoved the two into the horse of students heading towards the Great Hall.

"Everything ok?" Harry jumped and spun quickly towards the voice. "Yeah!" Why does his voice sound like a strangled cat?! He cleared his throat. "Ron's being a prat and I don't want Padma to have a bad night...." He trailed off. Were Draco's eyes always that silvery? Draco smiled, his eyes glinting playfully. "How chivalrous of you." He quipped. Harry smiled and let his gaze roam over Draco's bod- outfit! Draco's outfit. "You wore it." He heard. He looked up quickly and Draco lightly touched the bowtie. Harry grinned, probably looking like a madman. "Of course I did." He murmured. Draco raised an eyebrow and let his hand drop. "I wasn't sure you would." He muttered under his breath. Harry wasn't sure he was meant to hear it. Louder this time he said "You look good." His eyes blatantly checked Harry out and he smirked slyly. "Very good." He added. Harry felt his face go red. Merlin. It seemed all he was doing lately is blushing. "So do you." He said, looking everywhere but at Draco. Draco smiled broadly, clearly amused.

Suddenly, McGonagall clapped her hands. The sound reverberated through the Entrance Hall, startling Harry and making him look up. Somehow without him realising, everyone except the champions and their dates had gone into the Great Hall. Across the Entrance Hall, the other champions stared curiously at Harry and Draco. "Mr.Malfoy, if you would make your way into the Great Hall to your partner for this evening please." McGonagall said briskly. "And, Potter, where is your date?" Harry opened his mouth to speak but Draco got there first. "Actually Professor, my partner for this evening is right here." He said respectfully. He slid an arm around Harry's waist possessively.

The other champions and their dates stared at them, eyes and mouths wide open, shocked. Cho gasped out loud, as if it was a horrific thing, them being each other's dates. Harry felt his face burn red and he kept his gaze down. McGonagall stepped backwards, concerned for her students. She knew there was a possibility that people might react badly. "Well, then, join the others." She said hesitantly, gesturing to the open mouthed champions. Harry slipped out of Draco's grasp and started to walk towards the others, keeping his eyes down. Draco followed him, disappointed. But halfway to the others, Harry held out his hand to Draco and offered him a tentative smile. Draco beamed back at him.

In the line, Harry tried to ignore the fact that the other people kept turning around to stare at them, but he couldn't. If this is how eight people reacted, even Hermione, what about the hundreds in the Great Hall? What about Ron? He couldn't remember ever seeing two guys together romantically before. What if it was as taboo as being a Parselmouth? Harry felt himself getting panicky. Draco squeezed his hand. He snapped his gaze to to Draco's, who was looking at him kindly. "It'll be fine." He whispered. "Draco, I can't even dance." Harry whispered. Draco winked at him and straightened Harry's bowtie. "But I can."

The doors opened and Harry heard the chatter of the other students. The line started moving forward and he took a deep breath before advancing, Draco's hand still firmly clasped in his. As he walked into the Great Hall, he kept his gaze firmly focused on their interlocked hands. He heard people whispering and felt their states boring into his skeleton. Terror squeezed his chest. They stood in the middle of the dance floor. Draco gently guided Harry's hands onto his shoulders. He settled his own on Harry's waist and the surprisingly comforting warmth helped calm his racing heart. Harry raised his eyes to Draco's. "Just look at me." Draco murmured. "Just me." The music started and they danced.

Harry gazed into Draco's eyes, and everything else fell away. All the fear....He was just happy. Draco lead, obviously, and Harry only stumbled slightly once! Which he considered a success. When the champions finished dancing, the Wierd Sisters began playing. Draco didn't let Harry worry one second more, and led him into the next dance, and the next, and the next. Until Harry literally couldn't dance anymore. He collapsed into a chair and Draco grinned. "I'll go get us drinks." He said and hurried off into the crowd. Immediately, Hermione came up to Harry and plonked into the chair beside him. She engulfed him in a hug, all smiles and rainbows. "I haven't seen you all night!" She exclaimed. "Been dancing." Harry explained. He was wary of the conversation. She was one of the people who had looked back at them after all. Hermione nodded. "With Draco. Does he make you happy?" She asked. Harry blinked. "Uh, it's only tonight that we've gone out but.... yeah. He does." He smiled slightly. Hermione grinned in response. "Good! Because if this was some blackmail thing, I was going to kill him." Harry laughed. He was extremely relieved that the conversation wasn't horrible. He still hadn't spoken to Ron, but he seemed to be having a good time. He hadn't sat down once, and him and Padma were grinning madly. Harry saw Draco coming back, two bottles in hand. He didn't know what would happen in the long run but for now, he was happy to drink, dance and have fun with Draco Malfoy.


	3. Broken Trust, Broken Hearts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yule Ball is over, cue Ron being an absolute prat.

"I...had fun." Harry said softly. He and Draco were walking to the Gryffindor Tower together. The Yule Ball had ended but, surprisingly, Harry didn't want the night to end. They had spent the night dancing and just having fun. Which, with Draco, was surprisingly awesome. And, _on the whole,_ nothing happened. They had gotten a few strange looks but nobody actually said anything, except for Krum who had scoffed when he joined him, Draco and Hermione, holding drinks. He had scoffed and eyed the dancing crowd disdainfully. "At Durmstrang, ve haff many same sex couples. They are too old fashioned here." They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady much too soon for Harry's liking. "I had fun too." Draco grinned. The two faced each other, silent, as the seconds ticked by. Neither of them wanted to go. Harry didn't want to risk ruining the night but he had to ask. "Why did you ask me to the ball?"

Draco didn't reply straight away. When he did speak it was slow and thoughtful. "I guess I asked you because I finally wanted to do something _I want_ to do. And not because I was told to." Harry blinked. "But, what about your father?" He had only met Lucius a few times, but the times they did meet weren't very, um, fun. Malfoy cocked his head to the side, thinking about it. "The worst he can do right now is strip me of the title as the Malfoy heir." His eyes met Harry's and they were hard and fierce. "But I don't think I want to be a Malfoy anymore, if being a Malfoy means being an asshole to people you care about." Harry smiled slightly. He stepped forward and straightened Draco's bowtie. "It doesn't have to be a choice. I think, you're strong enough to figure out a way to be _you_ and be a Malfoy." He pressed a soft kiss to Draco's cheek and climbed through the portrait hole. He looked back to see Draco smiling at him as if in disbelief. "Goodnight Draco." He said and went in to the common room, the portrait hole closing shut behind him. "Goodnight, Harry." Draco murmured. "He can't hear you." The Fat Lady commented. "I know!" He snapped.

Inside the common room, Harry had walked in to a storm. A bad one.

"-with Krum?!" Ron yelled. "So what?!" Hermione shrieked indignantly. "I can go out with who I want!" "He's a pompous prick! Of course you can't go out with him!" She gasped furiously. "You _do not_ get to tell me what I can and can't do Ronald Weasley!"

The two were screaming at each other from either side of the, thankfully, deserted common room. Harry watched on, shocked, at the shouting match taking place. They had had fights before but this.....this was something else. Harry could practically see their friendship splitting in two.

"You're fraternising with the enemy!" Hermione laughed incredulously. "Fraternising with the enemy?! The Triwizard Tournament is about forming friendships with other countries. Strengthening relationships _between_ other countries!" Ron scoffed and glared at her. "Friendship? Pff, Krum doesn't want you for your friendship!" He spat out the words like venom. Hermione yelled in frustration. Her elegant bun was falling down, tendrils framing her face, and her dress had several creases, adding to her manic aura. "And you!" Ron exclaimed.

He had caught Harry in the act of trying to sneak around them to get to the stairs. Harry froze against the wall. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?! Malfoy?!" Harry felt fear churn in his stomach. This was going to be worse than he thought. Ron's face was contorted in fury and the saying _if looks could kill_ applied very much here. If they _could_ kill, he and Hermione would most certainly have died a very violent death by now. "Out of all people, you had to pick Malfoy?! You told me your date was a girl!" Harry shook his head. "I never said my date was a girl." He said quietly. But Ron either didn't hear him or ignored him. _He doesn't mean it, he's just angry at Hermione._

"First, Hermione goes off with _Krum_ and now you, fucking the biggest prat in the castle!" Ron laughed humorlessly. Harry roughly shook his head. "No, we never- this was our first date!" He cried. Hermione, who had been watching aghast, strode forward. "Don't you dare turn on him Ronald Weasley!" She commanded icily. Ron spun around to her and jabbed his finger in Harry's direction. "You're ok with this?!" He demanded in disbelief. Hermione glared at him. "Of course I am! Why should I care that he's with a boy? Harry's happy with him!" "He could go out with a fucking hippogriff for all I care, even any other dude in this dorm! But not Draco Fucking Malfoy!" He cried. Hermione shrieked. "He makes him happy!"

"His father tried to kill my sister!" Ron bellowed. "His entire family works for the guy who killed Harry's parents! Lucius was probably there too, using the Cruciatus Curse for _fun_ on his dad!" _He doesn't mean it, he's only angry at Hermione._ "Harry's parents are dead because of Malfoy's family!" _He doesn't mean it, he's only angry at Hermione. He doesn't mean it, he's only angry at Hermione._ "His parent's are dead because of You-Know-Who!" Hermione yelled. "And Malfoy is his biggest supporter! Malfoy is _playing him!_ And Harry has to fall for the fucking act! But, of course, when Malfoy humiliates Harry, it's not going to be Harry's fault! Oh nooooo, not the perfect Chosen One. Not poor orphan Harry. Just because his parents are dead doesn't mean he can get away with fucking the son of the ones who killed them!"

Bam! Ron clutched the left side of his face. Hermione breathed heavily, her hand still raised, as if to slap him again. "Don't you _dare_ talk about Harry like that." She uttered each word carefully and furiously. Her voice was quiet now, but it was more terrifying than when she was yelling. Harry's insides had gone cold. A heavy stone had dropped into the pit of his stomach and a cold fury spread through his body. "Well." He said quietly. Ron and Hermione looked at him. He was standing rigid, hands clenched in fists at his sides and his head was lowered, his unruly black hair hiding his expression. "If that's how you feel." He raised his head and both Ron and Hermione were shocked at the cold, unforgiving fury in his emerald green eyes.

"Get out. Go running to mummy about how your two friends aren't playing nice, I don't care. But don't you _ever_ speak that way to me or Hermione again. Get out. And don't come back till you've had some sense knocked into you." Ron's ears gradually turned redder and redder. Harry glared at him, suppressing the tremors that wanted to wrack his body. Ron opened his mouth to say something but closed it and glared at the two stonily. "Right." He huffed. "Right then." He spun on his heels and stormed up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. The sound of a door slamming and Ron roaring "what the hell are you looking at?!" came from upstairs.

Harry unclenched his hands and slumped against the wall. He slid to the floor. Hermione rushed over to him. "He'll get over himself in the morning. He didn't mean any of it." She said, trying to sound sincere but sounding as if she was trying to convince herself as well as Harry. He wondered what Ron had said before he walked in. "He's being an absolute toerag." She continued, "And you had every right to say that to him. But in the morning he'll come to his senses. He didn't mean any of it." She repeated. Harry looked at her despairingly. "Draco's not his father." He said, desperately wanting her to believe him. Desperately wanting to believe it himself. Hermione hesitated. "He hasn't proven anything to us yet. To you yet. I fully believe he can change. But...it's going to take time Harry. No one changes overnight."  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
The next morning, Ron left for The Burrow. Harry hadn't gone up to the dormitory till an hour after Hermione had gone to bed. He couldn't turn off his brain, even after he got into bed. Draco isn't his father. He couldn't be. And he was only a prat because he was forced to be. Right? Sure, it was strange that he had just suddenly asked Harry out like that, especially after three years of hatred and rivalry. But....lately, Harry wasn't sure that what he felt towards Draco was hatred. Don't misunderstand, Draco could be a right prat when he wanted to and sometimes Harry just wanted to hex some sense into him, but he didn't hate him. He was more....intrigued and drawn to him.

When Ron had woken up, Harry was still wide awake, plagued by doubts. He had pretended to be asleep and watched with a sinking heart as, behind his drapes, Ron's silhouette packed his trunk and left. Harry waited till the others had left to get up. He really didn't want to deal with the others staring. He got out of bed slowly. He considered just staying in bed. This was the second time he had lost Ron this year. And over something he wasn't even sure of. There was still a week left till school started again. Why not just stay in bed? Harry sighed. He felt heavy. His bones felt heavy. And he was so _tired._ But he forced himself to get up. Because, while he _really ,really_ wanted to stay in bed, he had to get up, move on. As the Muggle's say, build a bridge and get over it.

He headed downstairs to the common room, still in his pyjamas. The people there stared at him when he walked through the entrance to the stairs. Dean and Seamus stared at him worriedly, Neville avoided his gaze and the girls, Lavender, Parvati and Hermione gazed at him almost protectively. Hermione stood up out of her chair when someone pounded on the portrait. "Is anyone in there?! I've been waiting here for fucking ages! POTTER IF YOU ARE THERE AND ARE NOT COMING OUT, I'M GOING TO BREAKFAST ALONE! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?! I HAVE BREAKFAST AT 7:30 AM SHARP! IT'S HALF EIGHT! HURRY THE FU-" Harry shoved the portrait hole open. Draco glared at him. "It's about time!" He was about to start ranting about the time when he noticed how off Harry was. He frowned in concern. "What's wrong?" Harry shrugged and looked back to see everyone staring at them. "Let's go to breakfast. "He muttered. He climbed out the portrait hole. Draco felt worry squeeze his chest. It felt strange. He was not accustomed to being worried for anyone other than his mother.

"What happened?" He asked quietly. "Ron left this morning. We had a fight last night. " Harry explained monotonously. Draco frowned. "He said there was something wrong with me. He said, you're just using me, to humiliate me. He said, just because my parents are dead, doesn't mean I can get away with fucking the son of the people who killed my parents." Draco swore. Loudly. He pulled Harry to a stop. "Look at me." Harry looked at him and Draco saw everything in his eyes. The unspoken doubt, the confusion, the hurt, the anger. "I am _not_ using you. I'm not planning to humiliate you. I asked you out, because _I wanted to._ Because I have all these feelings for you that I don't really understand right now, but that I want to understand. All I know for sure, is that I don't hate you. And that I don't _just_ want to be friends with you." Harry stayed silent. Draco nodded and they began walking again. They had just reached the Entrance Hall, when Harry spoke, his voice hoarse. "I don't just want to be friends either."


	4. Hogsmeade Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco takes Harry out on a date *wink wink*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! Please comment and kudos! And if you like my writing, make sure to check out my other fanfics, I have looooads of Drarry ones. Especially on Wattpad. Check me out @SociallyAwkwardTeen5.

They had breakfasted in silence. Occasionally, Harry caught Draco glancing at him and more times than he’d care to say, he’d been caught by Draco doing the same thing. When they had gone into the Great Hall after their sort of confessions, to Harry’s surprise, Draco had followed him straight to the Gryffindor table and had promptly sat down gracefully and had served Harry pumpkin juice. Because of the many students that had stayed over winter break due to the Yule Ball, the House tables were still in place and the professors were up at the Head table, most of them wincing when the noise level rose.

It was only when breakfast was nearly over that Draco spoke. “You, me, Hogsmeade. Let’s go.” Harry calmly choked on his pumpkin juice. “That was a horrible attempt to ask me out.” He spluttered. Draco frowned. “Really?” Harry nodded, still gasping for air. He took a sip of pumpkin juice to help with the almost dying. “Harry, love of my life, will you do me the immense honour of accompanying me on a date to Hogsmeade on this beautiful winter’s day.” Harry choked on his pumpkin juice again. Draco raised an eyebrow. “Now do you prefer the first question?” Harry nodded, still coughing up his insides. Draco nodded smugly and calmly buttered some toast. Once Harry had stopped dying, he had recovered enough to feel embarrassed at the ' _love_ _of my_ _life’_ _._ It didn’t seem to affect Draco, who was eating his buttered toast with marmalade. It didn’t _seem_ to affect him but inside he was shrieking and wondering why he said love of my life. He had just wanted to be dramatically romantic!

Hermione walked in, Krum at her side, and she scanned the room anxiously for Harry. When she saw Draco sitting beside him at the Gryffindor table her eyes widened infinitesimally. She smiled a wry smile and walked over to them, sitting beside Draco. Right off the bat, wasting no time, Draco eyed her coldly and said, “You’re not going to do the same as the Weasel, or I will hex you to hell.” Harry slapped his arm. “Draco!” he scolded. Hermione shook her head. “I’m not going to do the same as Ron. But be careful. One wrong move, one thing to hurt Harry and I will curse you beyond hell.” She said with the same sliver of ice in her voice as Draco. The two stared at each other, neither backing down. Draco nodded slightly and went back to his toast. Hermione’s lips curved up into a smile. “Herm-own-ninny.” Krum dragged her attention away from Draco and engaged her in conversation.

Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco. “You didn’t need to do that.” He snapped. Draco looked at him evenly, his silver eyes unwavering. “Yes I did. The Weasel hurt you. And he’s not going to do it again.” Draco promised. His sincerity sent a shiver down Harry’s spine. He felt his face go red and he quickly hid it behind his goblet of pumpkin juice. Draco grinned. The two finished their breakfast the way they started. In silence. When they were finished, they stood up, nodded a goodbye to Hermione and walked out of the Great Hall, ignoring the stares following them out. Draco stopped at the bottom of the stares in the Entrance Hall. “Well, you, me, Hogsmeade. “ Harry smiled. “ Let’s go?” he finished. “Sure. But I don’t know how people will react to you in your pyjamas. “ Harry's face burned red. He’d completely forgotten that he was in his pyjamas. Which was just a pair of sweats and a tight t-shirt. He ran up the stairs, away from Draco. “You look hot if that helps anything!” Draco yelled after him.

A half an hour later, the two met at the double doors in the Entrance Hall. Harry’s face was still red but he’d changed into jeans and a hoodie. Draco smirked at him. “Ready now?” Harry hid his face in his hands and nodded. His face was on fire. Literally, on fire. Draco laughed. “Come on, let’s go. “ He linked their hands and tugged him gently outside onto the grounds. Now he could only hide his face with one hand, and it wasn’t really working very well.

It was a nice day, but cold. The sky was a pale watery blue. Snow blanketed the ground and the trees were bare. They swayed in the breeze that cut sharp like a knife. Harry shivered. He should have brought a scarf or a hat or something. He shivered again. Suddenly he felt something warm and soft wrap around his neck. He looked down. A Slytherin scarf hung snugly from his neck. He quickly looked to Draco, eyes wide. Draco refused to meet his gaze. Instead he pulled up the collar of his grey sweater. Harry felt a smile tug at his lips but didn’t say anything. He looked ahead of him again and squeezed Draco’s hand lightly. He felt a soft pressure on his own hand for a moment.

The smile on his face didn’t disappear, until they reached The Three Broomsticks. They ducked inside and Draco sighed in relief at the warmth. He liked being romantic, especially towards Harry, but it was bloody _freezing_ outside! Harry saw him shiver and frowned. “Butterbeer?” he asked. Draco nodded and Harry walked up to the bar, still not letting go of Draco’s hand. Harry grinned at Rosmerta. “Two Butterbeers please.” He ordered. Draco stood beside him, smiling at their interlocked hands. Harry tried to tug his hand out of Draco’s grasp, in order to grab the Butterbeers. Draco pouted petulantly and tightened his grip infinitesimally on Harry’s hand. Harry rolled his eyes. “I sort of need my hand to carry the drinks. “ Draco sniffed and grabbed one of the drinks. “Now you don’t.” He grinned smugly at Harry, very proud of his cunning plan. Harry shook his head and grabbed the other Butterbeer, hiding a small smile.

They sat down at a corner booth and that’s when the awkwardness descended. The two looked everywhere but at each other, hands interlocked on top of the table, occasionally taking sips of the warm Butterbeer. Draco coughed lightly. He made an attempt at conversation. “So…I don’t know much about you.” He admitted. Harry sat up and twisted his mug. “Well, what do you want to know?” Draco thought for a moment, before sitting up in his seat and clearing his throat. He eyed Harry conspiratorially. “Favourite colour?” he demanded. “ Silver.” Draco smirked. “How Slytherin of you.” Harry grumbled. “Shut up.” He muttered. He couldn’t tell him that the only reason he said that is because of the stupid bowtie. Draco switched back to seriousness. “Favourite animal?” “Stag.” And they continued like that for a half hour. The questions ranged from simple, meaningless things like favourite food or genre of book to more personal ones like _what was life growing up_ and _how is the_ _Muggle_ _world_. For someone who supposedly hates muggles and muggle borns, Draco sure had a lot of questions about muggles.

When their second mugs of Butterbeer arrived, Harry switched the questioning around to Draco. _His favourite colour_? Green. _Favourite animal?_ Cats. All cats. Except the hairless ones. As with Draco, the questions ranged from simple to personal. _What’s it like growing up_ _Pureblood_ _? What’s a wizarding childhood like?_ And so on and so forth until the awkwardness was completely gone and the two were chatting like old friends. “A dress!” Harry laughed. Draco scowled. “It’s not funny Potter! My mother went through a phase! No one else must know of this!” Harry hit the table lightly, doubled up with laughter. “Your mother put you in a dress!” He gasped, then dissolved into peals of laughter again. Draco rolled his eyes. “It’s not that funny.” He grumbled. Harry sobered up quickly. “Sorry. Sorry.” He met Draco’s unimpressed stare and burst into laughter again. “Dracona!” He gasped for air. “Oh, I’m sooo calling you that from now on.” Draco narrowed his eyes, the silver glinting dangerously. “Don’t you dare.”

Once Harry had stopped giggling like a school girl, the two stood up to leave. Draco once again wrapped his scarf around Harry’s neck but couldn’t suppress a shiver when they stepped outside. Harry rolled his eyes and Draco looked around at him when he felt the soft material of his scarf on his neck. He was about to protest when Harry stepped closer and wrapped the other half around his own neck. “There.” He said, satisfied. Draco was almost a head taller than him so Harry had to stand really close to him in order for the scarf share to work. Harry grinned up at him. Draco raised an eyebrow. “It works, ok?” Draco shook his head and smiled a small wry smile. “Ok.” He murmured. They walked hand in hand around Hogsmeade, just talking. Until they came to Honeydukes.

Harry determinedly dragged Draco in to the sweet shop. “Draco! Look! They have Fizzing Whizbees!” he gasped. Draco just nodded, trying not to laugh. Harry really was like a child in a sweet shop. He glanced around, looking at all the sweets, excitedly  even though he’d been there many times before. He detangled himself from the scarf and slipped his hand out of Draco’s. He ran around and came back to him, arms full of sweets. Draco raised his eyebrows in disbelief at the amount of sweets in his arms. Harry had to hug his arms to his chest in order to carry all of them. “I’m getting all of this.” He declared stubbornly. Then promptly went to pay for it all.

Draco shook his head at him when they went outside. He eyed the Fizzing Whizbee Harry was eating. “You’re literally just eating sugar right now.” He commented in slight disgust. “That’s why it’s good.” Harry quipped. They continued walking through the streets and ended up at the Shrieking Shack. Harry gazed at it, remembering the events of last year. “I never knew today was a Hogsmeade day.” He said, still sucking on the sweet. “I must’ve missed the notice.” Draco laughed nervously. “Ahh. Well. That’s because today’s not a Hogsmeade day?” “What?!”

Needless to say, Harry and Draco got detention from a very angry, very hungover McGonagall when they got back to the castle.

**A/N: This was literally just a filler**


	5. Ron's Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron returns to Hogwarts.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this! Thank you so much for all the views guys, I never expected to get this many! Please comment and kudos and yeah!

Hermione rushed down to the Great Hall. She pushed through the crowds of students heading back from breakfast. She ran into the Great Hall. "Harry!" She cried. He looked up from his conversation with Draco, his laughter dying when he saw her expression. "He's back." Harry's eyes turned stony. He murmured something to Draco who frowned. She heard him say "Want me to come?". Harry shook his head. He stood up, the Gryffindors at the table staring at him as he left. Draco gazed after them worriedly. It had been a week since Ron had left and he and Harry had gotten closer. They spent their days together, and everyone had become used to seeing them having conversations in the strangest of places. In the stands out at the Quidditch pitch, behind a tapestry on the fourth floor, in the nook of a window. Even Cho admitted to herself that they looked good together and were _good_ for each other. Draco had become kinder (as kind as he could be towards Gryffindors) and Harry was way more cheerful than anyone had ever seen him outside of the Quidditch pitch. Only Ron hadn't seen the two.

Hermione and Harry hurried through the corridors in silence. Harry was lost in thought. _What is he going to say? What if he blows up like last time? Or worse, what if he just ignores me?_ He sped up his pace unknowingly and Hermione had to quicken her steps to keep up with him. He burst through the portrait hole, Hermione scrambling after him. Ron and Harry stood staring at each other from opposite ends of the common room. Dean and Seamus sat in the armchairs by the fire and Ginny sat curled up at one of the tables with Crookshanks in her lap. The two boys stared at each other wordlessly. "So. You're back." Harry broke the heavy silence. Ron sneered slightly. "It is school tomorrow." He said courtly. Harry stayed silent. Hermione watched from the sidelines, ready to intervene if needed. "Still with Malfoy? Or have you come to your senses?" Harry took a sharp breath. He met Ron's withering gaze evenly. "I'm still with him." He said calmly. Ron sneered. "I'd hoped you'd finally realize that what you're doing is ridiculous but obviously not." Harry balled his fists. "And I'd hoped you'd realise what a prat you're being. But obviously not." Harry retorted. His heart was hammering and he felt like he was drowning under inky black waves but he tried to fight to keep his head above the water.

Ron laughed cruelly. "That's rich, coming from the one who's dating the biggest prat in the castle. Oh wait, sorry, you haven't shacked up with Snape. Yet." Harry took deep breaths. "Ron, come on. Don't go off again." He almost pleaded. Ron didn't hide the fury in his eyes. "Break up with _him_ and I'll stay." Harry felt breathless. His chest was tight and constricted. "Don't make me choose." He whispered. Ron snorted. "It's me or him. " "Ron..." Hermione started. He glared at her and she shut up. "Don't start. Go running to Krum." He growled. He eyed Harry distastefully. "Well?" He demanded. "Ron...I, I can't choose. It's not _fair._ " Ron looked almost disappointed for a moment. "I see how it is." He turned around and put his foot on the first step of the boy's stairs. He looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. "Don't talk to me. We're not friends anymore." He faced forward and went up the stairs.

Harry stared after him. He gasped. His breath came short and raggedly. _Everyone leaves. Mum. Dad. Ron. Why does everyone leave?_ He slumped to the floor, deaf to Hermione's worried questions. His head was spinning and he felt dizzy. The waves crashed over him again and again and again and he was _drowning._ He was drowning and he doesn't think he'll make it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit short, but I wanted a chapter just for Ron and his return to Hogwarts. If you like this series, make sure to check out my other Drarry works, and if you have Wattpad, check me out on there @ SociallyAwkwardTeen5 for more! I upload on there more than I do here XD and I have an entire Drarry book, filled with oneshots and a few budding series, including the first few chapters of this one! Thanks for reading!


	6. Hide Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a filler, sorry guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy anyway guys. Sorry it's so short. And sorry that it's a filler.

When Harry woke up, the first thing he realised was that he wasn't in his bed. He remembered escaping the common room after their fight last night. He remembered running into Blaise, who was alarmed by the tears sliding down his cheeks silently. He had brought him to Draco, where Harry had collapsed onto his green and silver covered bedsheets, immediately falling asleep. He looked around the room. A blueish green light coming from the window showing the inside of the lake illuminated the small room. It wasn't a shared room like in Gryffindor, something he was glad for. He sat up, the silk sheets sliding off his arms. His eyes felt heavy and his face felt strange from the dried tear tracks still on his face. Hearing a commotion outside the room, he stood up and opened the door. He glanced at the scene in the common room with muted interest.

Blaise was holding Draco back by the arms as he struggled to get out of his hold. His face was contorted in fury. "Let me go!" He yelled. Hermione stood by a couch, obviously having just sprung up from the dark green seat. She turned around when she heard the door opening. "Harry!" She cried, her eyes wide with relief. Draco stopped struggling to get out of Blaise's grip. His head whipped to meet Harry's dull tired gaze. Blaise loosened his hold and Draco slipped out of his arms, walking quickly over to Harry. He grabbed his face gently and gazed anxiously at him. His dull expression worried him. His green eyes were usually so full of life and full of emotion.

"Are you ok?" He asked in a whisper. Harry shrugged. He felt strange, as if a dampener had been put on all his emotions. Draco's eyes flashed dangerously and he pulled him into a hug. "I'm going to kill him." Harry shoved him away gently. He shook his head. "It's ok." Draco laughed humorlessly. "Ok? It's not ok! He hurt you and shouldn't be considered your friend!" Harry pulled away, walls coming down. "It's ok. He isn't my friend anymore anyway." He stepped into the room, placing a hand on the door. "Harry...." Hermione said quietly. Harry stared at her with tired eyes. He shook his head minutely and closed the door in their faces. Draco stared at the dark wood for a moment. His hands began to tremble. "I'm going to kill him." Blaise placed a warning hand on his shoulder. Draco turned around. "Did you see him Blaise? He's _hurt._ " Blaise tugged him into a silent man hug. Draco slumped against him. "He's hurt." He repeated. Hermione felt anger flare inside her. Ron was being an absolute twat. It was obvious to _everyone_ that Draco cared for Harry.

She left abruptly and the common room became silent. Behind the closed door, Harry sat against the cold wood. He stared out the window, feeling empty. It was as if he was devoid of feelings, devoid of thought. His head fell into his hands. _What am I supposed to do?_  
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Harry spent the rest of the week holed up in Draco's room. He refused to go to class and only let Draco in. Hermione came to the Slytherin dorms every day to try and coax him out of the room, at least into the common room. But everyday he refused and everyday he spoke less and less. Ron refused to acknowledge any one. He stayed silent, not speaking unless spoken to and even then it was with constant irritability. Neither Draco or Hermione knew what to do. What are you supposed to do when one of your friends hides away from the world?

**A/N: Ugh, this was so bad. Sorry guys. Promise the next chapter will be better.**


	7. Oh Fuck.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry returns to school and sees an interesting article in the newspapers

**Sorry for the long wait guys! Life has gotten busy again (and I sort of accidentally neglected this fix sorry** **lol** **). And by busy I mean shit.** **XD** **School is back *cue me face planting into my bed when I get home and SCREAMING IN DESPAIR. Ahem. Hope you enjoy! Please comment and vote. Thank you for all the views y'all, LOVE** **YOOOOOOUUUU** **!**

"Ok, that's it!" "Hermione, ow! Stop! Jeez, will you-ow stop!" Harry winced at the throbbing pain in his ear. Hermione tugged on it again sharply. "OW!" Her lips were pressed into a thin disapproving line as she tugged forcefully. "Hermione!" She let go of his ear finally and Harry collapsed onto the hard ground, staring at her reproachfully and holding his ear. "Owwwww." He whimpered. Hermione rolled her eyes. "You." She pointed her finger at him in a very McGonagall manner. "Need to keep out of that room, go to school and stop moping!" She commanded fiercely. Harry pouted and fell back onto the ground. "But Miooooooone." He whined. "No." He rolled onto his stomach. "Mioooooooooone." He groaned. "No! You need your education. And you're making Draco mopey too, which I can't deal with anymore! So get up, and go give your boyfriend a hug." Harry grumbled as if the shrieked command was the worst thing ever inflicted upon him.

Nevertheless, he stood up and shuffled over to the couch beside the fireplace in which Draco was sitting. Draco closed his book when Harry flopped onto his lap. "Mione dragged me out of your room by the ear." He complained. His words were muffled by Draco's chest but Draco understood him. You can't be Harry's boyfriend without understanding muffled speech. "It's only fair love." He said as he ran his fingers through his floppy black hair. "You were in there for three days. And you missed two days of school." Harry sighed. He raised his head and looked lovingly into Draco's silver eyes. He wiggled till he was lounging on his back across the couch, his head in Draco's lap. "I know you're right. But I really don't want to have to see Ron again." Draco frowned, as he always did nowadays whenever Ron was mentioned. "I'm sure he misses you too. And soon will come to his senses and physically trample himself with a hippogriff for being such an ass. " The last part was said a bit too threateningly for Harry's liking.

He didn’t reply to Draco’s comment, which made a prick of worry jab Draco like a needle in a voodoo doll. He placed a hand on Harry’s cheek. “I’m sure it’ll be fine love.” Harry grinned up at him. “I’m sure it will be. If you kiss me.” Draco raised an eyebrow at him. “Demanding aren’t we?” “KIIIISSSSS ME!” Harry whined. Draco laughed and dragged him into a kiss. They both smiled into it until a pillow hit Draco in the back of the head. “Who the hell did that?!” He snapped, pissed off that someone dared interrupt his kissing time. Blaise scowled at him. “Get a room!” He yelled. Draco smirked at him. “We will.” He swept an embarrassed Harry into his arms and kicked his bedroom door closed. “Um. I’m going to go…..” Hermione announced into the silence.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
No. This was not a good idea. Why did he decide to do this? Oh yes. Pain was inflicted upon him until he promised to go to school. Hmm. You know what’s a good idea? Going back to Draco’s room. He was sure he could convince Draco to kiss him. That would distract him, then it would be too late to go to school! Yes. That’s a good plan. Let’s implement the plan. Harry turned away from the Great Hall only to have Hermione grab him by the collar of his robes. He whirled around to pout at her.

“Hermiiiioooooneeeee.” He whined. “No.” She shook her head, hands on hips and eyes glaring daggers at him. “You’re going in and that’s that.” Harry almost stomped his foot. Trying to to be the mature student he should be but really isn’t, he steeled himself and walked into the Great Hall. And a meteor crashed into the room, sending bits of sharp jagged ceiling pieces flying, impaling students killing them instantly! No. It actually wasn’t as bad as he expected. The majority of the students didn’t even look at him. Only the boys from his year stared at him as he sat down, and most of them were sending apologetic smiles his way.

Across the hall, Harry met Draco’s encouraging gaze. It was only when Hermione gasped that he looked away. “What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning. Hermione looked up from the Daily Prophet with a strangled hum, casually edging it onto her lap, coincidentally hiding the front page. “Hermione.” Harry warned with a knifes edge to his voice. “Give me the newspaper.” She nodded uneasily then shook it slowly. “Hermione.” She pushed the newspaper over to him at a snail’s pace, before he snatched it off her with an exasperated sigh. He rolled his eyes as he unfolded it. Honestly. What could be so bad as to do that? Oh. Oh dear. That’s why. Emblazoned on the front page, with a moving photo occupying the entire A4 page, was the title **Has The Champion Won In Love?** Beneath the ridiculously over large heading was a picture of Draco and Harry. Kissing. The familiar background of the Slytherin common room was behind them but Harry didn’t really focus on that. Ridiculously, the first thought that sprang to mind was who needs a picture that size?! Hermione bit her lip as Harry’s expression changed multiple times in several seconds. “Harry? You ok?” He didn’t reply. He continued staring at the paper in horror, only putting it down when Hermione brought to his attention the fact that Hedwig had been standing in front of him for a while now.

He put the paper down, something which Hermione was extremely grateful for. She was beginning to fear that he was going catatonic. He untied the letter from her leg, hastily giving her a drink of his pumpkin juice and some cornflakes to apologise for making her wait. When he saw the muddy pawprint on the outside of the ripped paper, his heart stopped. Like, physically stopped. Can you get a heart attack at fourteen? Oh God, is his left arm tingling? He opened the letter slowly. A newspaper clipping fell out of it. Before reading Sirius' note, he picked up the newspaper, already dreading it’s contents. Strangely, it wasn’t the front page, but a written piece.

_Harry Potter has found love with none other than ex nemesis Draco_ _Malfoy_ _! Witnesses report them hugging, kissing and often disappearing for lengths of time ; ). This young unexpected couple is adorable, and we all think so. But what about the family? We went straight to the source to find out. After being showed graciously into their magnificent home, I was abruptly shut down when I asked about the budding relationship. “No son of mine would date a non_ _pureblood_ _. This is just gossip, to fill these rags of yours!” commented Lucius_ _Malfoy_ _. Hmm, touchy subject?_ _Narcissa_ _Malfoy_ _, mother of Draco_ _Malfoy_ _, said this, “My son has found love. I am proud of him and hope all goes well for him and the person he cares_ _for.”_ _Such motherly love. But, with the second task drawing near will Harry’s relationship stand up to the test and stay strong? Or will it crumble into nothing? Read pages 4,5,6 for more juicy gossip on this celebs love_ _life._

Harry slowly put the newspaper clipping down and picked up Sirius' letter with trembling hands.

_**WHAT?! EXPLAIN! Please.** _   
  



	8. Sirius-ly?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius pops up.

Harry paced up and down in the Room of Requirement. Draco had sent him a note in Herbology saying to meet him here, and he assumed it was about the newspaper article. He had been pacing in the room for fifteen minutes and if Draco doesn't show up in the next five minutes, he's going to go and fucking p- "Harry." "There you are." He sighed.

Draco strode over to him, kissing him softly on the lips. They broke off and Harry rested his forehead on Draco's. "What are we going to do?" He murmured. "You are going to do nothing." Draco said firmly. "I am going to write to my mother. She supports me, clearly, and then when it comes to my father....I've already told you. All he can do is renounce me as the Malfoy heir. And he's going to be reluctant to do that, because I'm their only child and the only one to carry on the bloodline." Harry frowned in concern. He didn't want his boyfriends life to be completely fucked just because of him. "But, the money and all that....your home!"

Draco smiled wryly. "My mother set up a bank account when I was a child. In case anything...happened. I have several million in there. And no one but me and her can access it." Harry gaped at him before scoffing. "Pff, yeah, well, tsh, ok." He shrugged casually. Draco chuckled and led him over to one of the couches the room had so graciously provided for them. He tugged him onto his lap and snuggled into him. "Sirius wrote to me." Harry said. Draco leaned back to stare at him in confusion. "Sirius Black?" "Um...yeeeeessss. He's my godfather." "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that." Harry glanced up at him. "How did you know in the first place?!" Draco waved his hand dismissively before returning it to Harry's hair. "Entire family of Death Eaters." "Oh yeah." "And Aunt Bella rants about him when she's drunk."

Harry closed his eyes, melting into Draco's touch. For a few moments, the only sounds were the crackling fire in the grate. Draco finally broke the o comfortable silence. "So, what did he say?" He asked quietly. Harry sighed slightly, rolling over and cuddling further into Draco's chest. "It was the newspaper clipping. And the words what, explain, please written on a piece of parchment." Draco stopped running his hand through his hair and Harry whined. He started it up again, shaking his head and laughing slightly. "Well, that's one way to ask." He said, humour colouring his tone.

Harry rolled his eyes. "What do I say?" He asked desperately. "Whatever you want." "But, I wanted to check with you first...." Draco tugged his head up to meet his gaze. "You don't need to check with me whenever you want to tell someone something about our relationship." He said seriously. Harry smiled sweetly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "How did I ever get such a good boyfriend?" Draco hummed as Harry moved to kiss his neck. "If I'm such a good boyfriend, you should probably thank me...." he whispered into Harry's ear. He shivered and met Draco's heavy gaze. He smirked. "I think I have the perfect way to thank you....." he murmured.

"AHH PDA STOOOOP." Harry fell off the couch with a shriek. Draco shot up and glared at the fire grate. Harry looked at the fireplace from his position on the floor, limbs sprawled everywhere and grinned. "Sirius!" Sirius' floating fire head frowned at him. "Seriously? Why the PDA?!" He groaned. Draco raised an eyebrow and gracefully stood up and helped Harry up, wrapping his arms around his torso protectively. "You are the one who interrupted us." He said, humorously but warily, as if he was treading carefully. Fire Sirius eyed him with the air of a disapproving parent. "Draco." He said stiffly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Sirius." He admonished. "So. It's true." He sighed. Harry straightened up, preparing himself for the disapproving yelling. "Yes." He said unflinchingly. Draco tightened his hold on Harry, never breaking eye contact with the fiery Sirius. "There's nothing you can say that will keep me away from him. We're together. You can't stop that." He announced defiantly. "I'm still me." Harry said almost pleadingly. "I might be gay, b-but I'm still me!" He cried desperately. Sirius' eyes widened in shock and he barked a laugh. "Harry, I don't care if you're gay or if you're with Draco Malfoy. If you're with him, I believe he's a good person,even if it's only towards you. I'm just worried about the reactions towards your relationship."

The two boys stared at him in shock. They were definitely not expecting that. "Not many people are supportive of gay couples. And it'll be worse for you guys, especially since the Malfoy family are notorious for being, no offence, evil." Draco ducked his head. "No offense taken." He said breezily. Harry glanced between the two in shock. "So, you don't care that I'm with Draco?" He demanded. "Not at all. As long as you're happy. And from that little display earlier on and what you said Draco, I can see he makes you happy." Draco eyed him suspiciously. "Were you spying on us?" He asked curiously. Sirius glanced around furtively. "I was being a concerned parental figure!" He said heatedly. Fire Sirius looked backwards and sighed irritably. "I have to go. Be safe. And use protection!" He disappeared from the grate.

Harry's face burned red and Draco coughed. "Well. That's one parent down." He said. "Time for mine."

Sorry for the late update! School is taking up all my time and I am exhausted (more than usual lol).  And AO3 wouldn't let me update for some reason? Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for all the views guys, I didn't expect this to get so many views!! Please vote and comment, I love hearing from you all !!

 


	9. Ronald Frickin Weasley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron and Harry meet again.....

Well. This was a dilemma. Harry stared at Ron as he stood across from him in the entrance to the Owlery. The red head stared at him awkwardly, with his facial expression a mix between hatred, confusion and….constipation? Harry stepped forward, trying to get around him, not really up to seeing him right now. After the whole newspaper thing, and Sirius popping up, and now the fact that they would have to face Draco's parents, he wasn't up to dealing with Ron too. He tried to walk around him, and made it out into the cold early January air, almost able to walk away. "Harry?" Damn. Harry turned around, a hint of a sneer beginning to curl at his lips. "Yes?" He asked disinterestedly. Ron shuffled his feet. He kept his eyes trained on an owl flying near the tower. "I….I wanted to-I want to…." Harry rolled his eyes. "Spit it out Ronald." He drawled. "I'm sorry ok?!" Wait, what? Harry blinked at him in confusion. Repeatedly. Ron's face began to flush and he refused to look at him.

"Malfoy clearly likes you. And, well, you clearly like him. And his parents know and he hasn't broken up with you. He seems to make you happy." "Excellent observational skills." Harry commented scathingly. He probably should have been overjoyed at the fact that Ron was apologising. Should've been beaming and laughing and saying "It's all good, just be my friend again". But he wasn't like that. Because Ron was just so moody lately! With the start of the Tournament and him going off and now this and him going off, Harry was pissed off. Really pissed off.

Ron stared at the icy ground. "I'm sorry for being such a prat." He mumbled. Harry laughed humorlessly. "Finally come to your senses have you?" He questioned snidely. Ron's head snapped up and his mouth dropped open slightly. Harry scoffed and leaned against the cold icy wall of the tower steps. "I can't believe this." He shook his head. "What makes you think I can forgive you so easily?" Ron's mouth drifted closed, he frowned. "I thought I was being played? That I was an idiot for falling for Draco's ' act '. That I was shacking up with the biggest prat in the castle? Oh no wait, you said I hadn't shacked up with Snape. Yet." Harry spat out each word as he received them; with pain. His entire body was trembling with barely contained rage. In an effort to control himself he had balled his hands into fists but that didn't do anything to help, in fact, it only succeeded in him drawing blood as his nails dug into his palms. The trickles of blood dropped delicately onto the snow on the ground, staining it a bright red.

Ron seemed aghast and he stared at Harry pleadingly. "Please, I didn't mean any of it. None of that mate. You've got to believe me." He begged. Harry glared at him. For a moment, he could see himself giving in, he could see himself forgiving Ron and going about life as usual. But that moment was fleeting. "I'm sorry." He murmured. "You weren't there when I needed you. You pushed me away, you left and you hurt me. Not to sound like a girl, but you hurt my feelings. And what you said…..whether you meant them or not, you still said them and those words are hard to forgive." Ron shook his head. He raised a hand towards him. "Mate, come on, we're best friends." Harry sighed tiredly. "I thought we weren't friends." He stated, not asked, echoing Ron's words from days ago. Ron shook his head again in disbelief. "You don't mean that." He laughed in shock. Harry met his gaze full on. "But you did." He said quietly. Ron stared at him open mouthed. "You forced me to choose Ron. And that nearly broke me." He said simply and quietly. He turned to go, but cast a glance behind him once more. "I'm sorry." Ron stood on the steps of the tower, still agape and in disbelief as Harry walked away from him.

You know, Harry was really beginning to hate that tower. First Cho there, and now Ron? Geez tower, give him a break.

 


	10. Gillyweed?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry figures out the answer.....with a little help from Draco

Harry grumbled and tried to focus his already poor vision on the tiny print in the book in front of him. He groaned again. "Love, you should really get to bed." Harry glanced up at Draco. His boyfriend stood in the doorway of the library, dressed only in his pyjamas and snake slippers. Yes. Draco Malfoy has snake slippers. He's not in rabbit house is he? No. So bunny slippers wouldn't have made sense. At least, that's his reasoning.  
Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I can't. The second task is in three days and I haven't figured out _anything._ " He grimaced and turned the page of his book.

Between all the recent drama, Harry had completely forgotten about the Tournament, and with the second task coming up fast, he was freaking out. Majorly. He had spent the past week poring over books in every waking moment out of classes. Draco frowned at his stubborn boyfriend. He crossed the room, and plopped into the chair beside Harry. "What are you doing?" Confusion coloured his sleepy tone. "Pass a book." Draco replied. He began to flick through the pages of a thick book. "Ok, so you need to find a way to breath underwater for an hour?" He demanded. Harry nodded, stifling a yawn. "Well, for that you _could_ do the Bubble Head Charm. But that might be a bit hard to master in a few days." He murmured absent mindedly.

Harry yawned again. His eyes started fluttering closed and his head dropped heavily onto his hands. He was just so tired. He had been barely sleeping this past week. He drifted in and out of sleep, threatening to fall asleep on top of the book he was trying to read. "Does it have to be a spell?" Draco asked suddenly. Harry jerked up in fright, startled out of his dozy state. "Hm?" "Do you have to use a spell to breathe?" He asked again, almost excitedly. He might have an idea, he just needed.... "Um, no." Yes! Draco jumped up, grinning broadly. "I know what you can use!" He announced elatedly. Harry stared at him open mouthed for a few seconds before jumping up out of his chair, the book tumbling carelessly to the ground. "What is it?" He demanded. Draco laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Gillyweed!" Harry's face went blank. "Gillyweed?" Draco rolled his eyes and began to explain. "It's a magical plant that allows the user to breathe underwater. Now, there have been debates about its longevity and the use in salt water versus clear water. It will definitely last an hour though." Draco grinned proudly.

Harry groaned internally. He loved his boyfriend but Draco was going to remain externally smug over the fact that he'd found the solution. He laughed slightly and spontaneously grabbed Draco's face. "You. Are. Amazing." He laughed. He drew him in for a kiss. They came up for air, and Harry laughed in awe and wonder again. "I love you." He whispered. Draco stiffened and Harry's eyes widened. Oh Merlin. He used the l word. Oh no. Oh this was bad.

He stumbled back from Draco awkwardly. "I mean, I l-love your intelligence! I mean, that wasn't- I didn't mean to- oh Lord." Draco strode up to Harry and pulled him into a passionate kiss, cutting off his rambling. He broke it off abruptly, leaving Harry reeling. "I love you too." He whispered. Harry stared at him shock. Draco searched his emerald green eyes almost desperately. He began to pull away from their embrace but Harry tightened his hold. "I love you." They stared at each other in shock, until Harry began to giggle. Draco scrunched his nose up. "You giggled." He frowned. Harry bent double, peals of laughter echoing around the room. "Sorry." He gasped. "I just-" He burst into laughter.

Draco just stared at him unamused. "I try to be romantic. And he laughs." He grumbled.

**This was so short,** **lol** **, sorry. But it's preparing for the next chapter, in which the second task will occur! So look forward to that. Wasn't very happy with this one, but eh, I wanted to post something. I'll probably fix it up later. I'm currently on a bus going into Dublin. Going to Trinity College today whoop whoop. Anyway, please enjoy, comment and vote!**


	11. The Second Task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry begins the second task.....

Harry woke up on the day of the second task blissfully peacefully. Then, reality crashed down upon him and he began to freak. He stumbled out of the bed, getting tangled up in the green satin sheets. He tripped over the sheets and fell to the floor with a yelp. "Draco!" He called. No one answered him. He huffed and stared at the upside down door. "Draco!" "He's not here." Blaise grinned at the flustered Gryffindor as he leaned casually against the doorjamb. "He got called out by McGonagall earlier this morning. You look a little tied up." Harry scowled at him from his upside down position hanging off the bed, trussed up in the green satin bedsheets. "I do not appreciate your humour." He said dryly. Blaise smirked. "I know. That's what makes it funny." Harry growled at him. "Just help me out of here."

The amused Slytherin helped him out of the sheets, snickering all the while. What? He couldn't not laugh at that. Harry scrambled up from the floor with a huff and fixed his pyjamas, very aware of the fact that he was only wearing flimsy cotton pyjama bottoms. "Why did McGonagall want Draco?" He questioned with a narrow eyes. Blaise shrugged. "Who knows?" He said simply. Harry frowned before his expression smoothed out as he let go of the mysterious reason as to why his Year Head had called on Draco. He yawned and Blaise began to walk back out the door. He hesitated in the doorway, throwing an expressionless glance back at Harry. "Good luck today." He said monotonously, while inside a slight tingle of worry niggled at him.

Harry smiled back at him, pleased with the small show of fondness. It's not that he and Blaise didn't get along, it was more that the two felt awkward having suddenly been found in a situation where the Prince of Slytherin tolerated, even loved, a Gryffindor and the animosity between the two houses was suddenly gone. It was unusual to say the least.  Blaise nodded awkwardly, feeling strange and walked out the door. Harry sighed and began to pull on his clothes, very carefully closing and locking the door first. He didn't want Blaise or someone else walking in while he was fully naked. Or even semi naked. Gah.

He bolted out the door as soon as he was finished. As he sped by Blaise, the dark haired Slytherin looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow. "In a hurry?" He asked with a hint of a smirk. Harry just rolled his eyes. "I need to get to the second task." He explained shortly. Blaise nodded and went back to his book. Harry paused by the door, feeling awkward. "You, uh, you not going to watch the task?" Blaise shook his head, and Harry frowned, a twinge of disappointment in his chest. "Oh, ok." He shrugged. "I know you'll do good." Blaise muttered. Harry grinned and gave a two fingered salute before walking out the door. Blaise rolled his eyes and went back to his book with a huff.

As he made his way down to the Great Lake, many people wished him luck and Fred and George even heckled him to make a bet, winking at him and joking all the while. Harry nodded them all away, nerves beginning to get to him. He clutched the Gillyweed tightly in his hand. He tried to take deep breaths. The butterflies raging in his stomach grew wilder as the lake grew closer. His gaze roamed over the people in the stands, disappointed and slightly worried when he didn't spot Draco. He bit his lip but continued to make his way to his stands. However before he could make it there, Ludo Bagman strolled up to him hurriedly with a beaming smile.

As the ex-Beater came closer, Harry noticed the sweat dotting his brow and the slight manic edge to his smile. "Harry!" He cheered, and dropped a heavy arm over his shoulders. The young boy buckled a bit but managed to hold up under the unexpected weight. "Now, Harry, are you okay?" He asked curiously. "Cutting it a little bit close aren't we, arriving this late?" He guffawed as Harry shuffled awkwardly under his arm, still searching the crowd for that familiar head of white blond hair. "I'm fine." He said absent mindedly. Ludo frowned in concern. "Are you sure? If you don't have a plan, I have a couple of ideas..." Harry glanced at him sharply, suspicion niggling at him. Ludo noticed his suspicious gaze, and began to panic slightly. "I have a plan, Mr.Bagman." Harry said confidently. Ludo blinked anxiously. "You're sure? I mean, I have some tips and-" Harry stepped backwards, letting Ludo's arm fall off his shoulder. "I have a plan." He repeated, in a much more confident tone of voice than he actually felt. "I should probably get to the stands. Can't be late can I?"

And with that parting comment and a slight smile he left a panicked Ludo behind and made his way to his place below the stands. He caught Cedric's eye and nodded with a tight lipped grimace. The golden haired Hufflepuff nodded back, equally as uptight. Harry sighed and gazed out at the lake. The weak sunlight glinted off the murky uninviting water, making the champions unable to see into the already opaque liquid. He couldn't help but imagine all the horrible beasts that lurked under the seemingly innocent lake surface. In his panicked and absent state of mind he vaguely heard the start of the second task being announced. Around him, the champions burst into a flurry of activity. Harry stared around blankly as Cedric, Krum and Fleur dove into the water. In his befuddled mind, it finally registered that he needed to _move._

He waded through the dark water, shuddering as the icy cold water attacked his entire being, sending slivers of white hot pain through his thinly clothed body. He choked down the slimy Gillyweed, and waited. He waded further in, the pain inducing water reaching the top of his torso now. Whispers began to circulate as people watched the Gryffindor champion do apparently nothing in the water. Harry heard the judging hushed conversations as a dim buzz. He waited desperately for something, _anything_ to happen. It had to work. It couldn't not work, he had to win this, he can't fail this task. He wrapped his arms around his shivering body, on the verge of tears.

Then his neck itched. And began to burn. His throat began to close up and the crisp fresh morning air became unbearable poison attacking his eyes, nose, _everywhere._ His knuckles and feet began to burn with the same pain, his bones almost shattering under the pressure. He clasped a hand to his neck as the pain became almost unbearable, fingernails scrabbling at the skin as his back bowed under the intense burning. Gasping like a fish out of water, he collapsed into the cold water, writhing in pain. As he became submerged in the previously unbearable water, the pain subsided and he began to breathe properly. Clutching his neck, his fingers drifted over thin raised bumps in his skin. His eyes bulged in his face as he realised what had happened. He had grown gills! Oh he was so going to get Draco back for not mentioning this.

He glanced around at the waving seaweed, newfound confidence and determination welling up inside him. He could do this. And he could win. He _would_ win. With a sharp kick of his flippers, he sped off into the gloom surrounding him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Three updates in one day? What?! Well, that's for waiting so long to update. Hope you guys liked it, please kudos and comment, I love hearing from you guys!


	12. ZE GRINDYLOWS

Harry swam through the dark, murky, sunless water for what seemed like hours. He could see perfectly, what with the special help from the Gillyweed, but he still had trouble making out the shapes shrouded in shadow that passed by him silently. The seaweed waved silently in the current, causing his eyes to dart around at the unfamiliar moving shapes, expecting something to jump out at him. He swam desperately. He didn't know how long was left in the challenge. His watch had stopped working as soon as he dived (okay, more like collapsed) into the water. So far, all had been silent. Which worried him. Surely there were things other than fish and seaweed in these murky depths?

He swam in no particular direction, hoping to find whatever it is that had been taken from him. He really hoped it wasn't his Invisibility Cloak. He wasn't even sure if it could get wet. Suddenly, something darted in his peripheral vision. He stopped swimming, and floated lightly, kicking his flippers delicately. He eyed the dark patch of seaweed warily. Something darted behind him, making him spin around, wand aloft. "Hello?" He tried to say, but only bubbles came out. He stared at the bubbles floating up above him, mesmerized. As soon as he looked up, something sharp grazed his foot.

He glanced down in panic to see a grinning Grindylow leering at him, sharp blade like teeth flashing. The dangerous water creature grasped his ankle with both tentacled hands, digging his razor sharp demonic horns into his skin causing Harry to yelp in pain, and yanked him down.

Harry struggled, trying in vain to tear his foot from the Grindylow's tight grasp. From out of the shadows, more Grindylows darted out from between the seaweed. They grasped onto Harry's legs, pulling him down with more force, hissing venomously all the while. Their sharp horns stabbed his skin, breaking it easily. Small tendrils of blood drifted through the water sending the already violent Grindylows into even more of a frenzy. Harry grunted, kicking out at the creatures. They hissed, baring their teeth viciously. His foot connected with one of their faces, making the one grasping his arm let go and try to stab him with its horns. He waved his arm around desperately, trying to get out of their hold as they dragged him further and further down.

In his moment of sheer and utter panic, Harry had somehow completely forgotten he was a wizard. As he finally noticed his wand tightly clutched in his hand, he pointed it at the monsters and yelled "relashio!". A boiling hot stream of water shot at the Grindylows, burning them wherever it touched. The creatures screeched in pain and abruptly let him go. Harry wasted no time in kicking them off and swimming away. The Grindylows screeched in defiance, slinking back into the shadows from whence they came, already lying in wait for their next victim.

Harry gasped as he swam blindly, not stopping until he had put as much distance possible between him and the Grindylows. His heart pounded in his chest and his limbs burned. Blue and purple splotches littered his exposed skin from the suckers on the Grindylows tentacle-like fingers and legs. He groaned. The rest of his body probably looked like a bloody bruised plum or something, and his cuts were still bleeding. He sighed irritably. Suddenly a giggle echoed around him. He tensed up immediately and raised his wand, ready for another attack.

"Funny seeing you down here." Harry sighed and lowered his wand slightly. "Myrtle." He groaned. The young ghost girl floated by him, looking affronted. She stared at him with wide eyes behind chunky glasses. "What are you doing here Myrtle?" Harry asked warily. You can't blame him. He'd just gotten attacked by Grindylows, who knows what else could happen? Myrtle could actually be some form of water creature that manifests into the most annoying thing on earth. And it chose Myrtle. The dead Ravenclaw sniffed morosely. "There I was, sitting in my U Bend, thinking about death, when suddenly someone flushed my toilet, and I zoomed into the lake." She sighed and began to shriek/sob. Harry really never knew if she was crying or imitating a kettle. You know, one of those metal ones that you out on the stove and it just whistles and bursts your eardrums? One of those. "This always happens to me." She wailed.

"Wait, Myrtle, do you know where I'm supposed to go?" Harry asked desperately. Surely the moany ghost would know most of the lake. She could help him! Hopefully. Myrtle glared at him, feeling a twinge of annoyance. "Is that all you want me for? No hello Myrtle? No how are you? You haven't even come to see me in my bathroom!" She wailed again. Harry stared at the crying girl awkwardly. "Um, I'm sorry. I've just been, uh, very busy lately. But we can hang out some other time, if you just help me with this. I will be in your debt if you do this for me." He pleaded with the irrational ghost, hoping beyond hope that this would work. He had been underwater for what felt like too long, and he was painfully aware of the time ticking by. Myrtle stared at him suspiciously. "So you'll visit me?" She squeaked. Harry nodded wildly. Myrtle shrieked. "That way, through the seaweed." She pointed towards a patch of seaweed that looked exactly the same as the rest of the green plant that was _everywhere_.

Harry kicked off, yelling a thank you behind him. He swam like his life depended on it, and maybe it did. He didn't know what happened when the hour was up. He just knew he didn't want to still be under water when it was. As he pushed through the thick ropey strands of seaweed, he began to hear something. He stilled, straining to hear what it was. Delicate, eerie notes from the song that the egg contained drifted towards him faintly. His heart in his mouth, he sped forward, propelled by his webbed hands and toes. Around him, ruins of houses and majestic buildings began to rise. The remains of the stone houses seemed empty and lifeless but Harry still gripped his wand tightly and eyed the ruins suspiciously. After that unexpected Grindylow attack, his new mantra was _expect the unexpected._

He wandered further into the kingdom of ruins. Then he stopped. "Draco?!"

**Mwahahaha** **cliffhanger! But several updates in two consecutive days?! What's wrong with me? Nah, I'm good, just having one of those** **_curled up on the couch, cocooned in a fluffy blanket, in my_ ** **_pjs_ ** **_with a cup of tea_ ** **days. Hope you enjoyed!**


	13. Mermen? Merpeople? Merwomen? WHA?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what this title is.

_He wandered further into the kingdom of ruins. Then he stopped. "Draco?!"_

If he could have stumbled backwards he would have. But stumbling backwards kind of requires the use of feet, and Harry currently had sort-of-flippers. He gaped at the sight in front of him like a fish out of water. Granted, a very human-like fish. In front of him, was a sight that instilled fear in him, down to his very core.

Large towers of rock rose up out of the ruins, twisting up high and disappearing into the black abyss above them. They loomed ominously over the landscape below them, their immediate surroundings strangely devoid of the ruins that scattered the remaining area. Guarding the bottom of the spires were what Harry was expecting. Merpeople. They held sharp elongated spears and tridents in their webbed hands, floating around the bottom of the rock towers silently, just watching him. But that's not what terrified him, not what had his very bones trembling in blinding fear.

Tied to the spires of rock with thick twists of rope were Draco, Hermione, Cho and a young silvery haired girl Harry could only assume was Fleur's sister. They floated in the invisible current, eyes closed in a deep, dreamless sleep. It hit him like the Whomping Willow. These were the things they had to find. These were the things taken from them. The people they loved. And when the hour was up....Harry's eyes widened. Oh Merlin. What would happen when the hour was up?! He stared in horror at their floating bodies. They couldn't die. Dumbledore would never let it happen. He couldn't.

Harry sped forward, searching desperately for something to cut the ropes with. Looking around wildly, he noted the sharp spear being held by the nearest merman? Merperson? That was really not the problem here! He swam towards the blank faced guard. "Please, I need your spear." He tried to say, but only bubbles came out. He groaned in frustration and gestured frantically towards the spear. The merperson shook its head in resolute refusal. Harry grunted angrily. Seriously?! Someone's life hung in the balance and they were refusing to help? AGH. He shook his head and swam towards the bottom of the towers. There had to be a sharp rock or something, right? He spotted a jagged rock and swooped down to grasp it, the sharp edges digging into his palms, causing him to wince.

He grasped the heavy rope wrapped around Draco's ankle and began to saw at it, which is not exactly easy to do when you have webbed hands. The rope began to fray, beginning to untwist itself. Hope bloomed in Harry's chest as he rubbed the rock frantically against the rope. Suddenly it snapped, and unravelled from around Draco's ankle, drifting to the lake bed. Draco's limp body began to float upwards. With a gasp Harry caught hold of his foot, dragging him down and taking a firmer hold of his arm. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes for a second. He did it. His burning green eyes snapped open in determination. Now he just needed to get back. But wait, he was surely close to the end of the hour. Where were the other champions?

Harry hesitated, still keeping a firm hold on Draco's arm. His gaze roamed over the three others tied to the pillars. He couldn't just leave them there. What if the champions got caught up in other monsters, like he did with the Grindylows? He glanced between Draco and the others, indecisive, biting his lip, until he groaned and stayed floating there. He couldn't just leave them, he had to stay and make sure they were ok. Just until the champions came. Suddenly, something moved behind him and Harry spun around, wand at the ready, only to see Cedric swimming towards him. A sort of bubble encased his head. _This must have been what Draco was talking about_ , Harry thought idly.

Cedric swum past him, making eye contact with Harry before moving to Cho. Grabbing a hold of the rope, he snapped open a pocket knife, the shiny silver blade, glinting in the murky light. Harry sighed. "I really should have thought about that." He muttered. The words came out in a bubble. He scowled at said bubble. Cedric cut the rope holding Cho and began to swim off. He looked back at Harry curiously and tapped his wrist. Time's running out. Harry nodded. Cedric nodded with a frown and kicked off, bringing Cho with him. One champion down. Now Fleur and Krum needed to get here. Like, now.

Mere moments later, Krum arrived. Or. Rather. Krum with a shark head. Harry stared at him weirdly for a moment. Shark head? Interesting. Shark Krum swam to Hermione, giant teeth snapping at the rope. Hermione swayed, coming dangerously close to losing a leg. "Woah! Hold on!" Harry yelled frantically. Krum didn't hear him, but noticed the bubbles and made eye contact with a really freaked out Harry. That shark head was just really freaky. Harry gestured with the rock he still held in his hand and held it out for Krum to take. Once Hermione was free, the Bulgarian champion sped off in a hurry to leave, not sparing a single glance backwards at Harry. The Gryffindor felt slightly affronted, he will not lie. He sniffed. Now Fleur just needed to arrive and then he could at least swing third place. He'd almost forgotten that this was a competition, what with the whole threat of death thing.

He waited for a few minutes before the worry set in. He was probably nearing the end of the hour, fast, and Fleur still wasn't here. He gnawed at his bottom lip, worry beginning to set in. When she didn't arrive five minutes later he decided to move. He couldn't risk the life of what he assumed to be her sister. Picking up the rock that Krum had dropped, Harry moved to grab the rope that tethered the young girl to the rock. Suddenly, with a combined shrill shriek all the merpeople moved at once to surround him, pointing their sharp weapons at him threateningly. Oh dear.

**Mwahahaha** **, cliffhanger. Ya know,** **i** **f I kept all the typos in this, it would make for such a weird chapter. Two examples of why it would be weird.** **Krum** **turned to Mr. UK (?!) And shark turned to Sharon. Sharon! How?! Anyway. Hope you enjoyed. And I've just realised that my book is really weird. The first two or three chapters are like 2000 words long. And the rest of them are like, below 1000. Huh? Do you guys want me to break up those first few chapters? It wouldn't change the story, it'd just make it less of a task reading the first few chapters** **lol** **. Please comment and vote! I love hearing from y'all. <3**


	14. Imma Fish. Bloop Bloop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what this title is.

_Suddenly, with a combined shrill shriek all the_ _merpeople_ _moved at once to surround him, pointing their sharp weapons at him threateningly. Oh dear._

Harry eyed the sharp pointy things warily. This was a predicament. A very bad predicament. Still making sure to keep a firm grip on Draco's ankle, he let go of the silver haired girls rope. "One person, one champion!" The mer-leader shrieked. At least, what he thinks is the leader. Harry frowned. "She's my friend too!" He yelled. Even though the words came out in bubbles, they seemed to understand him. The merpeople gestured with their weapons. "No." The leader hissed. Harry scowled, his anger festering inside him. This was life and death! First, they refused to give him a pointy thing and now, they aren't letting him save the girl? F*uck this, Harry swore.

He pulled out his wand from the waistband of his swimming trunks, clutching it tightly and pointing it menacingly at the merpeople. They all shrieked at the sight of the brown wand and clambered over each other to get far enough away from it. They hovered around the edge of the clearing, just at the invisible line where the ruins stopped. Harry grinned. Keeping an eye on the merpeople, he bent down to pick back up the rope and grabbed the rock that Krum had dropped. Carefully putting his wand in between his teeth (which was probably not very safe but he was currently under water, about to run out of time and surrounded by armed merpeople. He's in a pretty dangerous situation as it is), he began to saw at the rope with the sharp rock.

Pretty soon, the rope snapped and Harry frantically grabbed her arm before she could float away. I mean, yes, we all float too but now was not the time! Still keeping his wand clenched in between his teeth, he began to kick with his flipper, propelling slowly away from the towers. He kept a sharp eye on the merpeople. They hovered near him, doing nothing but watching, following him slowly, still keeping their distance. Harry was cautiously glancing back at them every minute. They weren't doing anything. They didn't look like they were about to attack him. But still. He needed to be prudent and always on the look out for danger. Cause there's something strange in this under water neighbourhood, but he can't call the Ghostbusters. Although maybe that might work for getting rid of Myrtle. Hmmm....

Snapping out of his reverie, Harry noticed the dull rays of light beginning to stream from above. Yes! He was almost there. He glanced at his watch, ignoring the burning ache in his legs as he kicked them fiercely, only to remember that his watch had stopped working the moment he had jumped (fallen) into the lake. He cleared his itchy throat and just focused his gaze above him. He was so close. He could almost taste the freedom and longed desperately to be out of this nightmare. He would seriously need to question Dumbledore on this task. Risking a student's life? Multiple students lives? Not okay.

The tickle in the back of his throat persisted and he made a mental note to get a Pepper-Up potion from Madam Pomfrey. It was probably all this staying in the cold depths of the Great Lake. It was really strange. Now that he nor the others were in imminent danger, he noticed so much. For example, how the now prominent light reflected off the coiling seaweed as it swayed in the faint current of the water. And the small shoals of fish that flitted around in the murky water. And how, his throat was about to fucking close up. Harry frowned and cleared his tingling throat. However, the itching sensation only got worse. Soon, his throat felt like it was burning and the same feeling began to spread in his hands and feet. He let out a deep guttural groan as the pain increased. Thousands of tiny needles stabbed his skin as he writhed in pain.

The thought of holding on to Draco and the girl was stricken from his mind and he curled up into himself, clutching at his neck as if that would stop the pain. The two unconscious students began drifting upwards towards the surface. Their robes billowed in the small current, and their limp bodies seemed to be dragged upwards by an invisible hand. Harry squinted at them through watery eyes and let out another yell when a particularly intense bolt of pain ripped through his body. He kept his pain filled gaze on Draco's rising body in despair. He was so close, he couldn't not make it. He just couldn't. He squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth against the pain and tried to kick out with his feet. He swallowed down a sob and kicked again. And again.

His vision began to cloud over and black spots danced across the underwater scene before him. His lungs were burning with the need for air but he kept his mouth tightly closed. Around him, the merpeople watched his plight emotionlessly, but even though they wouldn't have tried to help even if they couldn't, Harry had completely forgotten about them. He was entirely focused on going up, and getting out, and getting breaths of sweet, sweet air. Black clouded the edge of his vision and he fought the urge to cry. He had to make it. He just had to. But he was so tired. And his body was so weak.

His limbs felt heavier than he'd ever felt them before. Eventually, Harry ran out of energy and let his limbs fall limp. He kept his gaze trained on the greenish light above him, desperate for another glimpse of Draco, until the black spread across his entire field of view. Harry's eyes closed and he felt all of his body relax. Reflexively, he gasped for air, unable to handle the burning anymore. Water flooded his lungs and he coughed and choked on the cold, unnatural substance filling his body. He jerked and twitched as he fought with regained strength. But it was too late. He gave one last sputtering, watery cough before falling silent and limp. Deathly silence reigned.

Suddenly, his head broke the water and his eyes flew open in shock. His hands scrabbled at his throat as he coughed up all the water that had entered his system. "Harry!" Someone called frantically. Harry's eyes swivelled unseeingly as water kept pouring from his lips. He felt his body being yanked towards shore and a heavy weight hit his chest rhythmically. "Harry!" Someone sobbed. Harry choked and gasped as he kept heaving up water. He turned around, away from the heavy weight and vomited a bucketful of water onto the pebbly shore. He coughed and took gulping breaths of air. Something heavy collide with his body and wrapped around his entire being. Draco gasped in relief and began to sob heavily into Harry's wet shoulder. Harry clutched Draco to him, laughing shakily. "I-I thought you had died!" Draco wailed. He was acting completely out of character for the composed, emotionless Slytherin king he was supposed to be.

He shoved Harry away and then pulled him back into the embrace immediately. Harry stared mesmerized into Draco's tear filled silver eyes. He brought his shaking hands up to grasp his smooth, perfect, blemish free face. His gaze raked over every inch of the blond's face, committing it to memory. Draco sniffled and shook his head. "Never. Do that to me again." He commanded with a tremulous voice. Harry shook his head. "Never." He vowed. Draco drew in an unsteady breath and searched Harry's jade-like eyes with his own panicked silver ones. "I love you so much." Harry whispered croakily before pulling Draco into a breath taking kiss. They broke away moments later, both breathing heavily. "I love you too." Draco murmured.

 **Oof! This took a while to write, sorry about that XD This was surprisingly hard to write and I'm not really that happy with it, but I was like. Becca. You're off sick from school. You have the house to yourself. FINISH THE CHAPTER.**  
**Anyway. Hope you enjoyed! And that I didn't kill you all during this. 😂😂  Please comment and vote!** **MWAH**  
  
  



	15. Hello Draco *cackle*

Harry lazed in an armchair as he casually flicked through a book. After all the stress of the second task, it felt good to just relax and read his Quidditch book. Nice and calm and- "HARRY!" He groaned. He just wanted some peace! Suddenly, Draco came climbing through the portrait hole into the common room. Harry had been officially kicked out of the Slytherin common room, which made for an awkward time whenever Ron was in the Gryffindor common room. And dorms. And literally everywhere.

Draco came to a stop by Harry, flopping over the chair onto him. Harry let out a small "oof." "Ok, we have a bit of a problem." Draco announced. Harry tried to blow a strand of Draco's hair out of his mouth. "What?" He asked, still focused on the piece of hair. Draco wiggled around and fixed Harry with a steely gaze. "First of all, stop eating my hair. Second of all-" Harry gaped in disbelief. "I wasn't eating your hair!" He protested. "Whatever." Draco dismissed. "We have a problem." He repeated. "Yes, you said that." Harry said dryly. Draco scowled at him. "If you're done, Severus wants to see us in his quarters."

It took Harry a moment for that to sink in. "Wait. Severus. As in Severus Snape?!" Draco looked confused. "Yes, what other Severus would I be talking about?" Harry groaned dramatically. "Dray, he hates me! Why does he want to see us?!" "Harry, he's my godfather. I assume he wants to do the whole 'fatherly intimidation' rigamarole." Harry huffed in displeasure. "Fine. I'll go."

Draco raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Was there any question of you not going?" Harry scowled. "No…" he mumbled. "I knew you loved me." Draco said with a smirk. Harry rolled his eyes and pressed a quick kiss to Draco's lips. "As if you need reminding."   
Draco grinned, his lips curving up as he smiled into the kiss. "Reminding of what?" He asked innocently. Harry scoffed and shoved him gently off his lap. Standing up with his mouth set in a determined line, he said grimly "let's go." Draco snorted elegantly (somehow. How can he make even snorting elegant, Harry wondered. )

"You think you're going in that attire?" Draco appraised his boyfriend. The Gryffindor frowned. "If I'm going to meet the professor who hates me, because he's your godfather and wants to try and further intimidate me, I am going in the clothes I like best. These clothes are me. And I'm gonna make me accept me, comfy clothes and all." Draco smiled softly, warmth flooding his eyes. "And he's going to tolerate you as best as he can." He said fondly. Harry felt the first flutter of nerves in his stomach. "Of course he will." He said confidently.

Together, with a short "goodbye" to Hermione, they climbed out of the portrait hole and began the surprisingly short walk to the Potion Master's quarters. Harry nibbled his lip as he walked. He usually couldn't care less that Snape hated him. He loathed the teacher with vehemence in return. But now that his relationship with Draco was possibly on the line, he felt an urge to make the sullen teacher tolerate if not like him. Draco noticed him worrying away at his lips and suppressed a smile. "It will be fine" he assured him with a squeeze of his hand.

They stopped in front of a dark wood panelled door adorned with a heavy knocker. Harry took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, then dropped them thinking might look too ready to jump someone. Then he folded his arms. Then unfolded them. They felt so weird. What does he do with them? Do they just hang by his side like limp spaghetti?! Draco noticed his plight and had to clasp his hand over his mouth to stop from laughing. Harry just looked so confused yet terrified at the same time.

"Harry." The brunette turned to his boyfriend who couldn't help but laugh. He'd folded his arms into a weird semblance of crossed arms, with his arms completely twisted. It actually looked very uncomfortable. "You look like you're about to snap your arms off, put them down. Just be yourself." Draco offered sagely. "But he hates me as myself." Harry said hopelessly. "Then he'll just have to learn to tolerate you." Draco said firmly before knocking on the door.

It swung open ominously and a disembodied voice floated from inside the dark expanse. "Enter." Draco rolled his eyes and barged gracefully into the room, Harry walking in more warily. Was that violin music? Oh God, he was gonna die. Voldemort who? No, his death would be a Potions professor. "Really, Godfather, the sinister atmosphere could be rather toned down." Draco drawled. Snape rose from his place on the couch, turning off the gramophone with a flick of his wand. "Hmm." He said monotonously. "Obviously. I felt the music was rather overdramatic, however, your father always loved the dramatics." He sneered.

Draco blinked. "Sorry, my father?" He asked carefully. "Hello Draco." Lucius Malfoy stepped imperiously out of the shadows of the kitchen door way. He smiled stonily at Harry. "Now who have we here?" He asked softly.

****************  
Mwahahahaha cliffhanger. *cackles maniacally* Please excuse the boringness of this chapter, I've been out of the writing game for a few months so I'm a little bit rusty XD I've been considering changing the title of this fic, cause it's sort of past the Yule Ball at this stage isn't it? Just a smidge. ;p Any ideas?


	16. Welcome to the family Mr. Potter

Lucius stared at the couple still standing frozen in the entrance. With his perfectly groomed hair and immaculate robes, he looked oddly out of place in Severus's small sitting room. The aforementioned professor sat on the sofa, a small sneer curling the corners of his mouth. Strangely enough it didn't seem to be directed at Harry, nor at Draco but rather at Lucius. The senior Malfoy stepped forward slightly and Harry stepped forward automatically placing himself slightly in front of Draco.

The Gryffindor held out his hand determinedly. "Harry Potter sir. I believe we've met before. Second year wasn't it?" He asked with a hard edged innocence. Lucius shook the hand with faux politeness. "Yes, I believe it was. You cost me my house elf if I remember correctly." His grip on Harry's hand tightened slightly. Harry remained passive and merely tightened his own grip, his smile getting a bit wider. "You almost cost me my best mates sister if I remember correctly." He countered.

The tension in the air was palpable and could be cut with a knife. Or a very sharp spork. Draco cleared his throat. The small sound seemed to snap Lucius out of his crushing match and he dropped Harry's hand as if a Horntail had just burned him. "It seems we both have vague memories of our…..encounter." He smiled tersely. "So it seems." Harry hummed noncommittally with a strained smile of his own. He looked sort of like a demented grindylow, Draco thought idly. He stepped in front of Harry and stared stonily at his father.

"Father, what are you doing here?" He asked politely. Or at least, with as much politeness as a son that despises his father can muster. Which, with a pureblood upbringing, is surprisingly a fair amount. Lucius sniffed and sat down demurely on the couch. Severus shuffled aside slightly, his body leaning away from him. "Well," Lucius began softly, "I had to find out whether the periodicals were publishing the usual raunchy gossip or whether my son was really courting the Prince of Lions." Draco cringed internally at the old fashioned way of speaking. He drew himself up straighter and glared at him fiercely. "You've seen what you've wanted, now you can leave."

Harry's lips curled up at the corners as he gazed at his protective boyfriend with pride shining in his emerald eyes. Lucius laughed lightly and mirthlessly. "You can't seriously believe I'm going to let you go through with this." He spat scathingly. Harry stepped forward to stand beside Draco, entwining their hands together, united. "And why not?" He asked dangerously, as if warning him from going any further.

"Because having a raging homosexual for a son is enough without him frolicking around with the boy who destroyed the Dark Lord!" Lucius hissed malevolently. Draco's gaze hardened into steel. "It seems you've misjudged the situation, Lucius." He spat his name out with such vehemence that Lucius stiffened on the dark green couch. "I would assume," Draco continued in the same hard tone, " that you would be glad I was dating Harry. Ever since the War the wizarding world hasn't looked too kindly on our family and I would imagine that having the Saviour dating your son would shed some new light on our familial image."

Harry shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his social standing but squeezed Draco's hand encouragingly. Lucius frowned and opened his mouth to speak but Snape cut across him. "I rather believe Draco has a point." Lucius snapped to stare at him. "Severus?" He asked incredulously. The Potions Master eyed Harry with a derisive sneer, looking loathed to back up his most hated student. "Mr. Potter, while incredibly dimwitted, has the love of our entire world, for ridiculous sentimental reasons. He could….help your family regain social standing, be some sort of…..leverage."

Harry and Draco stood apprehensively side by side, still in the entryway, holding their breath awaiting what was to come. Lucius stood up, drawing his posture up ramrod straight, his cold cruel gaze shooting daggers at the young couple. "Well then. Seeing as you have so many people willing to vouch for you," his mouth twisted into a snarl on the word vouch, "I have no choice but to accept this little tryst while it lasts. And it will not last long." He focused his murderous glare on Harry. "Welcome to the family Mr. Potter. For now."

He swept past them with a swish of his robes, his footsteps and uneven stomping of his cane echoing from the corridor. Draco blinked in shock. "Well that went better than expected." He murmured. Harry breathed out heavily and leaned over, putting his hands on his knees. "That was easy?!" He exclaimed. Draco rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's antics. "I never said it was easy, just that it was better than expected." He commented. Harry evil eyed Draco. "Your snarkiness is not appreciated right now." Draco met his stare with his own eyebrow raised one.

"Can you stop being in love in my presence before I throw up." The dry unappreciative voice of their forgotten professor brought them out of their staring contest and back into the room. Harry straightened up immediately. Draco grinned slightly as he sat down beside his godfather on the surprisingly comfy couch. Severus eyed Harry in vague disgust and fixed his robes primly as if shaking away the remnants of Lucius' presence. That brought a slight smile to Harry's lips before Severus glared at him again. _He senses happiness_ , Harry hissed in his mind.

"So, Godfather, can I assume that you approve?" Draco said, a hint of hope in his amused tone. Severus raised an eyebrow and Harry was struck at the likeness between the Head of Slytherin and the white-blond snake beside him. "I neither approve nor do not approve. However, I will not try to dissuade you from this. It is obvious you are happy Draco. And as your godfather, your happiness is my priority." A semi emotional answer?! Harry was flabbergasted.

He opened his mouth to speak but Snape sensed it and turned to glare at him darkly. "You, I will tolerate. Don't think I'm going to go easy on you in Potions, Potter." He sneered. Harry smiled wryly. "Wouldn't dream of it, Professor."

**************

I think I'm going to keep an update schedule of Monday's and Friday's. It seems to suit me to update on those days XD. Hope you liked this chapter! <3


	17. Still a prat

Draco stirred the bubbling lilac liquid listlessly. Potions usually was his favourite class and he usually looked forward to it on the days they had it with immense pleasure. But today he was pouting. Internally of course, the Malfoy heir and Prince of Slytherin couldn't be seen pouting. While Severus was okay about their relationship, he was staying true to his promise. Instead of Harry and Draco working together on a potion like they usually do, the professor had paired Draco up with Blaise and Harry with the Weasel. While it was fun to spend time with Blaise, he couldn't help but scowl at Ron's back the entire class.

Meanwhile, Harry felt sufficiently awkward. The once best friends worked in almost complete silence with only the occasional "pass the asphodel" to break the tense atmosphere sparking between them. Throughout the process of brewing their potion, Ron kept opening and closing his mouth searching for something to say that could possibly fix the rift he had caused between them.

"You look happy." He blurted out suddenly. Harry froze in his action of adding crushed chizpurfle fang to the cauldron. "I am?" He answered confusedly. "With Malf- Draco, I mean." Ron added. Harry put the jar down abruptly. "I am." He said tightly. Ron nodded, at a lost for what to say and drummed his fingers on the desk. "Look, can you just hear me out?" He asked in a rush. At Harry's disapproving stare Ron held up his hands appeasingly. "You don't have to say anything, just hear me out and then I can know I've done everything I can. And I'll leave you alone." Harry remained silent but gazed at him expectantly as he threw finely chopped dandelion root into the mix.

Ron nodded, breathed deeply and launched into his hushed plea. "I don't expect you to forgive me immediately for what I did and said. I was completely out of line. I should have been more supportive and making you choose between him and your friends was not okay." He eyed Harry warily and since a hex didn't get sent his way, he continued tentatively. "I just-it was a shock. Here I was thinking we were mortal enemies and suddenly you two are snogging like horny Hufflepuffs! And….I wasn't really angry at you anyway. I…seeing Hermione with Krum just really annoyed me for some reason and then there's all that bad blood between mine and Malfoy's family and I saw you and just….exploded."

Harry stirred the potion counterclockwise seven times then clockwise twice before he prodded the fire with his wand to lower it. "I didn't mean what I said. I mean, in the heat of the moment I did mean it, I'm not going to lie. But I don't believe it. And if you would just be willing to hang out with me, just let me back in, I could try to get along with Malfoy." Ron stared at him hopefully. "I'm not saying we're going to be best friends but you two are….good for each other. He seems better, less pratish and less…pureblood manic. And I've never seen you happier. And that's all that matters, your happiness."

Suddenly uncomfortable with the amount of emotion in the conversation, Ron fell silent and shuffled the jars on their table awkwardly. "So…yeah….that's all I wanted to say." He muttered. Harry breathed out in a huff. He turned to Ron, abandoning the potion. "You're still a prat." He said with a small smile. Ron nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, course!" Harry grinned back at his best friend. He had been beginning to mope about the loss of his friend and was getting fed up with the tension if he was being honest. It felt good to have him back. For the rest of the class they tentatively exchanged jokes and stories of what happened during their break.

Draco watched on in slight discontent but he couldn't really be annoyed. He knew Harry was missing the Weasel even though he refused to tell him, not wanting Draco to think it was his fault and so seeing him so happy to have his best friend back was good. He knew it would make Harry feel better and that's all he wanted. Well, that and cuddles of course. That was practically a prerequisite.

When the bell rang, the class filed out, Ron and Harry with their arms slung around each other and Draco held Harry's other hand with a wry smile. Ron nodded warily at the Slytherin who nodded back easily. Before he could say anything, Draco spoke with a cold breeziness that had Ron gulping in slight terror. "While I am prepared to tolerate you Weasel for the sake of Harry, I am going to say this once and only once so listen carefully." He continued slowly and deliberately with a hardened frostiness in his tone. "If you hurt Harry again the way that you did, I will come after you this time. And I will not hold back." Ron nodded quickly and slowly inched slightly away from Harry, as much as he could without letting him go. The group walked off, Slytherins and Gryffindors mixed in a unlikely relationship that was slowly inching its way towards true friendship.

Back in the classroom, Snape smirked as he heard their echoing footsteps fade away. Walking around the room banishing potion and cauldrons alike he grumbled lowly to himself. "Finally. The tension was bloody killing the dungeon atmosphere." He muttered. He reached their cauldron and scoffed at the potion inside it. "T" he declared to the empty room before he banished the potion. He may have plotted to reunite the two friends but he most certainly was not going to go easy on them in Potions.

*************

Merlin, I was reading over my earlier chapters of this and they're so bad! God, how anyone could get through that is incomprehensible. I will definitely be tweaking them soon. No changes to the plot, don't worry, I'll just be making them better and less cringy.

Sorry for the shortness of this, it was sort of just a filler (?) XD Hope you liked it anyway! <3


	18. Date Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco organises a date day to de-stress Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating yesterday loves! School is being a bitch and I've been working on the other chapters. I'm almost finished fixing up the second chapter. I'll repost the tweaked chapters once I'm finished all of them. Anyway, enjoy this tooth rotting fluff! I thought it would be best to give you fluff before what I have planned. ;P   
> B xx

Draco stood by the Great Hall, teetering on the balls of his feet as he waited for his boyfriend to come down to lunch. Usually they would walk down together but today Draco had different ideas. Harry had been under a lot of pressure lately with the Tournament and his newly reformed friendship with Weasel so Draco had decided to steal him away for the entire day and help him relax. (In non sexual ways, get your minds out of the gutter. Tut tut.) They hadn't spent much time alone together since the second task so Draco had the entire day planned.

The raucous laughter of their friend group came flooding down the hall and the group of Slythendors ambled happily down the stairs. Draco took this small moment to gaze at them his housemates with pride. It was hard to believe that merely a few months ago Slytherins and Gryffindors were slyly hexing each other in the corridors or not so slyly duelling in the courtyards. Now, the two houses had practically blasted the way to new house unity. Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Slytherins and Gryffindors could be found in any common room now. Draco himself had some Puff-Pals; Hannah Abbott was actually rather pleasant to talk to, she had a wonderful grasp of Ancient Runes.

He watched as Pansy linked arms with Hermione as they nagged Ron about homework. Blaise was in an animated discussion with Neville about Herbology and some essay they had been assigned, while Harry was debating Quidditch teams with Theo and laughing at Ron's plight. Dean and Seamus were chatting quietly to themselves, hand in hand as they had finally stopped being obtuse idiots and had asked each other out. Crabbe and Goyle were in Saturday detention with Severus for blowing up another new cauldron. Honestly, those idiots. He shook his head. "What are you shaking your head so negatively?" Harry chided, greeting him with a kiss on his forehead. "Crabbe and Goyle." He supplied dryly.

Harry laughed. "They're in detention again aren't they?" Draco rolled his eyes and nodded grimly. "Honestly, it's the fifth cauldron in a row that they've destroyed. How can they be so bad at Potions?" "Maybe they just have a proclivity for pyrotechnics." Seamus quipped. Dean sighed. "McGonagall said that to him when she gave him detention last week for blowing up his goblet. Now he won't stop saying it." He explained with faux aggravation. Seamus nudged him with his shoulder. "You know you loooooooove me."

"Can we all stop being so revoltingly in love?" Pansy asked snidly. "We'll stop being in love when you stop planning to take over the world." Blaise supplied. "Well carry on then." She said nonchalantly as she cleaned her nails with a knife. No one questioned where it came from. "Wanna go in?" Harry asked Draco as the rest of them swarmed into the Great Hall. "Nope." Draco said, popping the p. "We have other plans." He announced grandly. Harry raised an eyebrow, grinning slightly. "Oh we do?"

Draco began to tug him away from the Great Hall and towards the entrance doors. "We do." He stated. "Do these plans of ours involve food?" "They do indeed." "Then lead the way."

[Time skip because the only interesting thing that happens from now till Draco's surprise is the giant squid waving its tentacles.]

"Are we there yet?" Harry asked yet again. Draco's eyebrow twitched. "For the tenth time, no." Harry fell silent for a few seconds. Key word: few. "Are we arriving at our destination soon?" He asked slowly. "Changing the words doesn't change the meaning!" Draco exclaimed in fond exasperation. He loved him and all, but jeez, Harry had no patience! They rounded a corner of the Great Lake and Harry stopped in his tracks, his mouth dropping open. Draco smirked and continued walking towards the little copse of trees he had found two days ago while wandering around during one of Harry's "friend dates" with Ron.

A small cluster of trees stretched up to the sky, surrounding a small clearing in which Draco had set up a picnic. A small section of the bright green grass was covered in a stereotypical red checkered blanket. One of those square woven picnic baskets weighed down one of the corners and another woven basket (round this time) held bottles of Butterbeer. Harry gazed around in awe as he walked slowly towards the blanket where Draco now sat, turning around in circles as he walked.

"Training for the ballet Potter?" Draco snickered at his incredibly unfunny joke. Harry rolled his eyes. "Haha. Seriously though, Dray, you did all this? For me?" Draco shrugged, ignoring the warmth blooming in his chest. "You've been so stressed lately and we haven't spent much time alone together in the past week or two." (Two weeks and three days actually. He's been counting.) Harry shook his head, knelt down on the blanket and held Draco's face with both hands. He caressed his cheekbones with his thumbs as he smiled in disbelief. "You are amazing." He enunciated each word carefully. He kissed him softly everywhere on his face. His forehead, both cheeks, his nose then his mouth. Draco hummed and deepened the kiss slightly. Harry moaned and pulled away before it could get too heated.

"Can't let this food go to waste." He said with a smirk, although his breathlessness ruined his snarkiness. Draco pouted and mumbled something that sounded vaguely like " stupid cockblocking pastries." Harry gasped dramatically. "Don't insult the pastries! Don't worry," he said gravely to the basket, "he didn't mean it." Draco snorted in a very un-pureblood manner and shoved his laughing boyfriend. "Come on, I'm hungry."

They unpacked the basket and Merlin, Draco went all out. Treacle tarts, pumpkin pasties, eclairs, brownies, sandwiches, salad, couscous, pasta salad, a thermos of soup (just in case it got cold), barbecued kebabs! Harry immediately reached for one of the lamb kebabs. Mouth watering, he tore of a piece with a groan as the taste of different spices and that smokiness that only barbecuing can achieve burst in his mouth. Draco could only raise an eyebrow and laugh. The man loved his food.

They spent a good hour just eating, laughing and lounging around. Harry had somehow found his way onto Draco's lap and he was laughing at a story the blond was telling, nudging his hand with his head as the blond played with his hair. "And then Crabbe added tentacula venom to the already on fire potion and it just blew up in his face! Severus was seething but you should have seen him when the potion splattered him. He grew an extra arm! Out of his head!" Harry laughed heartily, gasping for breath as he imagined his grumpy potions professor with an extra arm growing out of his head.

Draco grinned as he had to accio a drink for the raven haired boy. Harry took it gladly, choking on air now but he couldn't stop the bursts of giggles forcing their way out of him. Draco leaned back on the soft grass and closed his eyes, completely at peace until he felt something drop onto his face. His face scrunched up in confusion, eyes still closed. Something else dropped on his face. Then another. And another. His eyes sprung open to a sky filling up fast with dark clouds and droplets of rain falling fast. "Shit!" He cursed.

The two jumped up, collecting everything into a bundle in their arms as they sprinted from their picnic spot through the now lashing rain. Harry laughed freely as they ran through the freezing cold. The reached a small overhang in a courtyard, both soaked to the bone, laughing hysterically. Harry's arms overflowed with blankets and pillows and Draco's squished the baskets close to his chest. The two eyed each other and burst into carefree laughter all over again. "Happy stress free day." Draco joked. "Best stress free day ever." Harry replied, beaming broadly.

Draco beamed back, and tugged him into a kiss, the baskets and blankets falling to the ground at their feet. "You know we're gonna catch a cold now." Harry mumbled against his lips. Draco rolled his eyes. "Shut up and kiss me." Harry had no problems with that.  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
True to his word, the next day Draco woke up coughing and sniffling, trying to breathe through a blocked nose and fighting a headache. "Told you." Harry muttered. "Shut ub and get be soup." Draco croaked.


	19. Lover's Tiff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, B, you've managed to upload a chapter with more than 1,000 words! I know, I know, *bows* Such an amazing feat.
> 
> I'm working on expanding my vocabulary and I've also sort of rewritten all of chapter two......XD Oops. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

It was a day like any other when the letter came. There was nothing strange about a letter arriving, letters arrived everyday at Hogwarts. No, that wasn't the unusual part. The unusual part was when it arrived at dinner, the parchment enclosed in a heavy cream parchment with a wax seal holding it closed. The jet black owl landed gracefully in front of Harry and Draco who sat at the Gryffindor table that evening, eyeing the other Gryffindors disdainfully.

Draco blanched and took hold of the letter gingerly between his slender fingers with the expression of someone holding a live bomb that could go off with any sudden movements. The owl hooted sharply and took off, his brown tipped wings brushing the edge of the pumpkin juice pitcher making it wobble dangerously. Harry could guess what it was. Or more accurately, who it was from. "What does it say?" He asked quietly.

The rest of the table had fallen quiet, Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors alike with a smattering of Ravenclaws waiting with bated breath to hear the contents of the letter. "Dear Draco….bla bla bla…" Draco shuffled the two papers, turning them over and scanning them until he found what he was looking for. "We're invited to dinner." He said in a tone of shock. "What?" Harry asked, thinking he surely must have misheard.

But no. His hearing was perfectly adequate. "My parents have invited us to dinner." He repeated, lip curling up towards the end. He threw the letter onto the table and pulled his plate back towards him. The table slowly filled up with chatter again as the students moved on to other things they deigned more interesting. Harry sat in stunned silence for a moment before he roused himself and placed a hand on Draco's arm. "Dray."

Draco stopped eating his chocolate tart, glancing at him. "What?" Harry stared at him in disbelief. "Well?" He probed. Draco's mouth clenched into a thin line. "Well what?" He asked stiffly. He dropped his pastry crusts back onto his plate, brushing any remaining crumbs off his hands. Harry frowned and gestured towards the letter that lay discarded on the tablecloth. "What are we going to do?" He asked quietly. "We're not going to go." Draco responded bluntly.

He stood up from the table abruptly, the bench screeching harshly against the flagstone floor. Others began to stand up too and leave, forming a small crowd that streamed out the hall into the entrance. Harry sat frozen on the bench before Draco's retreating back had him scrambling into action. He jolted up from the table hurriedly and pushed through the crowd apologetically to reach his boyfriend.

"Draco!" He called. But the blond ignored him. Harry stumbled through the herd of students before apologising mentally to everyone and resorting to using his exceptionally bony elbows to catch up with Draco. He emerged from the bustle with a gasp as he reached freedom. "Whew. Draco, wait!" He finally fell into step with him. "Why not go?" A pained expression crossed Draco's features. "I'm not sitting across from my father as he insults me or my boyfriend."

Harry maneuvered in front Draco effectively making him stop walking. "That's not how I see it." He retorted matter of factly. Draco's eyebrows furrowed almost dangerously. "How do you see it?" Harry frowned at his derisive tone, the cold atmosphere unsettling him. He had never gotten into this kind of discussion with Draco; this sort of unfeeling discussion. It felt wrong.

"I see it as an opportunity to stand up to him and show him that he can't hurt or mess with us." Harry tried to explain earnestly. But Draco wasn't listening. "That's not how it would go." He bit out bitterly. "The entire meal would be spent in almost complete silence from us with snide comments made by my father that are borderline insulting but not insulting enough to jump up and call him out on it. Then mother would try to diffuse the situation with pureblood gossip which is just utterly ridiculous because it never works."

"But that won't happen if we just show up united, and strong and impenetrable. If we just show up as _us_." Harry argued, eager to try and show his side of the discussion. Draco snorted. "You are sorely mistaken if you think such a _Gryffindor_ approach would work." He sneered haughtily. Harry scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?" Draco rolled his eyes and placed a hand on Harry's arms in faux pity.

"I'm only saying that such an infantile up front and provocative plan is only to be expected of a lion." Harry shrugged off his arm as if it burned to the touch, beginning to get annoyed. "Oh, and what? Slytherin's are superior to Gryffindor's?" Draco snickered slightly. "I'm not saying that. But of course the House of Snakes would come up with better, more cunning plans. You're brash. It's in your nature." He shrugged as if it wasn't his fault and examined his nails coolly.

Harry bristled. "Just because the two houses have different traits does not mean one is better than the other." He tried to keep his cool, knowing that Draco was just upset over the letter. But it was getting increasingly hard to keep a lid on his rather short temper when Draco kept acting so snootily. Draco chuckled humorlessly and Harry couldn't ignore the disturbing resemblance to Lucius in that one low sound.

"Oh, Harry. Of course one is better than the other. You're just too _noble_ to admit it. At least your fellow house mates had the guts to act like they believed the Gryffindorks were better than us." The young Malfoy's lips curled into a Snape-esque sneer towards the end. "Okay, that's enough!" Harry snapped. "I know you're upset over the letter but this is ridiculous. You're acting petty and it really isn't a good look on you."

Draco scowled deeply. Both young men had their hands balled into fists, held defensive stances and the air crackled with tension that sparked between the two like lightening. Harry was bitterly reminded of their years spent as enemies in this exact stance in one of their many stand offs. "Because you're such a fashion guru Potter."

"That's it. Come and talk to me when you're done being a petty git, and you've gotten your act together. Then we can decide on what to do about this bloody letter." With that last snarled sentence, Harry spun on his heels and stalked off, leaving Draco standing there looking lost.

[Time skip in which nothing happens but Draco pouting on his bed in the Slytherin dorms, drapes closed, lying in darkness like a Drama Queen]

"'Arry!" Hagrid boomed in delight. He grabbed him into a bone crushing hug, liquefying his skeleton. "Hey Hagrid." Harry croaked. The giant of a man dropped him back onto the ground, clapping him on the back cheerfully. Harry had decided to visit Hagrid to get out of the castle for a bit. If he happened to somehow stay out of Draco's way for the entire day, well, that really couldn't be helped now could it? He just needed some time to cool off, and he felt bad about not having visited his first friend in a while.

As soon as Hagrid stepped aside to let him in, a barking drooling Fang sprang onto him almost knocking him over. Harry laughed as he rubbed the hyper dog vigorously. "Hey, good to see ya boy." Harry edged around the cheerful canine, who ran over to him as soon as he had sat down. Hagrid set two large mugs of tea on the table along with a tray of his infamous rock buns. Harry apologised to his teeth.

"So, wha' brings you up 'ere?" Harry grinned, the whole thing coming off slightly maniacally. "Just up for a visit." He said chipperly. Hagrid stared at him. He obviously didn't believe the blatant lie coming out of Harry's smiling mouth. Seeing he could get nowhere with his cheerfulness, he slumped onto the couch, lips curving down into a frown. "Me and Draco had a sort-of-fight." He announced sadly.

Hagrid nodded sagely. He guessed it was something like that. "And so yer avoidin' 'im." He noted. Harry slumped down even further into his seat. "Sorry for using you as a way to avoid my boyfriend." He told him morosely. Hagrid waved one massive hand dismissively. "It's grand. You need time away, I get it. I'm glad ya came to me." Hagrid smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners pleasantly. Harry smiled back glumly and picked up his cup of tea, settling in for a nice afternoon of friendly chat and tea.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof their first fight. Please kudos and comment! Thank you for all the kudos and reads, it really means a lot :)


	20. Good Ol' Ronald

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twenty chapters?! What?! Aggggh

It had been two days since their fight. And Harry was incredibly _over_  this silence between the two. Draco had stayed adamantly over his side of the Great Hall during meals, his fellow Slytherin's shooting Harry glares over their glasses of pumpkin juice. Not very discreetly either. He wanted nothing more than to stride over there, apologise for leaving their argument on such a sour note and snog his face off.

But he had decided to give Draco space. He didn't want to make things worse than they already were and aggravate him even more. However, he was seriously regretting not doing anything and it showed in _everything_ he did . He would call his current demeanour apt for the situation. He would liken it to a suffering lover, tormented by his plight but nobly remaining silent to give his love a better life. His friends would liken it to a lost puppy.

When he'd complained moodily to Hermione, she had eyed him irritably over her Arithmancy book. "Just give him space and deal with it, or stop whining and go snog his face off." She had snapped. "Now leave me in peace!" Ron had just gotten his chess piece to brutally and violently attack his king until nothing was left of the chess piece but rubble.

Ginny had sent a very nasty bat bogey hex his way with a screech to "attack his face already". All in all, Harry didn't know what to do. The fact that Draco was going out of his way to avoid him was only achieving to make him more mopey. He felt none of the righteous anger or disdain he usually felt when he got into arguments with someone; that feeling of  _I'm right so suck it and go wail in a hole at your idiocy._

He knew why that feeling wasn't there. It wasn't there because he knew the only reason Draco had lashed out was because he was upset over his father's demeaning manner. He didn't want to subject Harry to any of Lucius' horrible conduct. He accepted Lucius' treatment of him because there was still a tiny part of him that believed he deserved it. But he didn't want Harry to deal with it because he believed that Harry was too good to be treated that way.

Harry sighed wistfully as he stared dejectedly at Draco across the Defence classroom. He didn't want his boyfriend to think of himself that way. Draco was so much better than his father told him he was. He was sweet, and kind and amazing and so much more compassionate than he gave himself credit for. Sure, he could be a prat and uppity and horrendously pure-blood sometimes but it was how he was raised and he was working really hard on not being like that.

He even called Hermione by her first name for Merlin's sake. Harry sighed woefully again. Ron and Hermione shared a meaningful glance over the top of his head. Which wasn't hard because he was half-lying on the table. Ron shook his head adamantly. Hermione glared at him, brows furrowed, mouth set in a determined line. Ron shook his head again but his conviction was wavering.

Harry didn't notice any of this silent conversation flying back and forth between his best friends, not even when Ron sighed loudly in a very aggravated breath and nodded grudgingly to Hermione. For the rest of the class, the trio were really a sight to see. Harry, lying dismally on his desk, Hermione, a beaming beacon of smug happiness and Ron, a grimace adorning his face, his flaming eyebrows pulled low into a glower.

Once the class was over, Harry was dragged by Hermione from his depressed reverie and out the door while Ron dawdled by his desk. Draco was doing the same, as Pansy and Blaise walked away, leaving him to his slow, depressed packing up. Ron sighed loudly and closed his eyes before going over to the young Slytherin and planting himself in front of his desk.

Malfoy looked up in surprise. "Weas-Ronald." He corrected himself. "What are you doing?" He eyed the fiery Gryffindor warily. Ron sighed again, as if this was a huge ordeal that could change the fate of the world. "Harry's a mess." He stated tonelessly. Draco stiffened at Harry's name, a flash of sadness darting across his molten silver eyes. On closer inspection, Ron noticed with surprise that the skin around the snakes eyes was slightly puffy and red and lightly shaded circles hung under them.

"He feels bad about the fight. He wouldn't even tell us what happened, so I couldn't fully blame you without feeling bad, but I know that it wasn't entirely his fault." He continued in the same carefully emotionless tone of voice. "It's obviously taken a toll on you too-" Draco's hands flew up towards his unusually messy hair "-and I'm just here to say, just go up and bloody _talk_  to him already. He's my best mate and he's miserable. Work it out. For both your sakes." He added.

Draco was dumbstruck at the level of diplomacy the boy had shown. With a last sigh, Ron left the classroom. Both boys were left with an unsettled feeling of confusion as they realised that that was the first exchange they had ever had without trading insults. If a one-sided conversation could be called a conversation.

[Time skip where Harry drowns his sorrows in food and Draco, Blaise and Pansy theorize that Ron has been kidnapped by aliens]

Later that evening, Harry sat by the lake staring out at the dark water that reflected the clear, glittering night sky. He took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of the cold night air flooding his lungs. He tipped his head back, inky black hair melding with the dark surroundings as he stared up in thought at the incandescent sky. Suddenly he was startled out of his brooding by muffled footsteps approaching him slowly.

His wide, surprised eyes snapped up to see Draco Malfoy standing there, his posture exuding an aura of hesitancy. "May I sit?" He requested quietly. Harry nodded wordlessly, shuffling over when Draco sat down gracefully on the soft grass. They sat in silence for a few moments, neither one of them sure of what to say. Finally, Draco broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Ronald spoke to me today." He started softly. Harry shot him a perplexed glance. He had not expected the talk to start this way. Draco chuckled slightly at his expression. "I know, I was confounded too." He said dryly before resuming his gentle, serious tone. "I want to apologise." He said in a rush, at the same time that Harry blurted it out. The two stared at each other, small wry smiles tugging at their lips.

"You go first." Harry acquiesced.  _Generous, as usual,_  Draco thought. "I was wrong to snap at you and be such a toe-rag." He admitted. "I was just…unsettled by the letter and unprepared to deal with it. And that's not an excuse to lash out at you." He added quickly. "I guess I'm just still angry at my father, and I don't know how to deal with all these emotions without insults and I don't know." He rambled on, still unsure of everything, as fourteen year olds tended to be.

Harry let him ramble on until he trailed off into panicky silence. "Dray, I should be the one apologising." He held up a hand to cut off Draco's protests before he even voiced them. "I should be." He insisted. "I know how strained your relationship is with your father, and I should've helped you through all these feelings instead of snapping at you when you lash out. It's normal to lash out when we don't know how to process things, or can't explain ourselves as best as we'd like."

Harry took a small breath before continuing. "You didn't want me to endure the type of treatment you went through but you probably would have went without me, making yourself endure all the horrible things your father would say."

Draco looked down at the ground guiltily, slender fingers fidgeting with a sprig of grass. Harry spoke slowly and surely, to ensure that Draco heard everything he said. He needed to let his boyfriend know how cared for he was.

"You don't deserve that kind of treatment. You don't deserve to be told that you are anything less than what you are. You are amazing. You're loyal, sweet, kind, honest and sure, you can be an absolute asshole sometimes but that's how you were raised and you're trying your best to not be like that. And you're doing great at it. Going against everything you've been told is hard, really hard, but you're doing amazing love."

Draco's eyes gleamed silver in the moonlight, glazed over with tears. Harry cupped his face in his hands, locking shining emerald eyes with watery silver ones. "I love you. All of you. Messed up family and all." He joked lightly. Draco laughed, voice slightly choked with tears, and sniffled. "I love you too." He smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw they made up. Hope you enjoyed loves. Sadly, I don't think there will be a chapter next Monday as it's my birthday on Saturday and I will be celebrating it with my friends in Dublin. There should be an update on Friday though as usual, this Friday and next Friday.
> 
> Thank you for reading! xx <3


	21. The Malfoy Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I'm finally back! You could see this as a week and a bit late or you could see it as two days early, it's up to you. Please read the note at the end of the chapter as I have some good news!! Enjoy :)

Somewhere in the Malfoy Manor a clock chimed. It echoed through the empty mausoleum, past the occasional house elf as it cleaned furiously, danced through the grandly furnished abandoned rooms until it reached the small group of four sat erratically around the absurdly large gleaming table and circled them, making the suffocating silence even more pronounced.

Narcissa picked up her wine glass with a lithe graceful grasp and smiled hastily at Harry. After a very long sip, she beamed broadly at the rest of the party. "Well, isn't this wonderful. My favourite person with his favourite person finally here at last." Harry smiled easily at her as Lucius stabbed his entree of carpaccio with grandeur. "It's good to see you too mother." Draco responded when no one else spoke.

The same silence as before descended even thicker this time, thicker than the tense silence that had surrounded them all when a band of house elves in rags and bearing injuries carried in their first plates of a four course meal. Harry and Draco sat beside each other, hands clasped together, not once let go of since the start of the visit, and Lucius sat at the head of the table while Narcissa sat opposite Harry and Draco in some sort of deformed tri-recta-square-angle.

After another hefty sip of wine, Narcissa tried once again to start up a conversation. "So, Harry, how's school? Draco's told us all about you in his letters, but well, schooling doesn't exactly come into that does it?" She laughed politely. Harry chuckled a bit, completely at ease with Narcissa. It was the blonde at the end of the table currently glaring at him that he had a problem with.

He likened Lucius to an angry Yuri Plitsesky. A blond, thin ball of angry. Harry cast a side glance down to Lucy and- yep, there were the angry red anime triangles. "School is actually working out really well. I'm getting good grades and I'm in a good standing in my classes. Of course, I'm no where near as smart as Draco or Hermione, but I'm still doing well."

Draco flushed red at the small compliment casually thrown in and Narcissa stifled a delighted toothy grin, settling for a smug sip of wine instead. "Yes, he is top of his class, especially Potions. He was thinking of doing a Potions Mastery after Hogwarts." Harry glanced at Draco with a sly smile at his embarrassed demeanour. "Oh really? Well, I'm sure whatever he chooses to do, he'll excel at it as always."

Narcissa nodded approvingly. As the house elves clicked their empty plates away and floated in the new dish of quail, Narcissa drained her glass of wine. "So what are your plans for after school?" Harry thought about it as he chewed his fondant potato. "I've never really thought about it." He began honestly. "But I've always seen myself as either a professor or an Auror."

Draco glanced at him in surprise. Harry could relate; he had surprised himself. He always saw himself in a Ministry role, and being a "hero" was his entire existence so what better than an Auror? Someone who fought bad guys, someone good at fighting. It wasn't his favourite thing but everyone always said do what you're good at and this is what he was good at.

But sometimes, when he was alone, he thought about it. And he secretly wished that he didn't have to fight. He loved DADA and the thought of being able to equip people against bad things and bad situations that could easily crop up brought him a greater sense of joy than the thought of being an Auror ever brought him.

"Well, those are certainly admirable professions but both are immensely different." Narcissa commented, drawing Harry out of his pensive thoughts. "I suppose they are. But both, to a degree, would require the same knowledge. If I ever became a professor, I couldn't imagine teaching anything other than Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Lucius scoffed from his vulture-like position at the end of the table, effectively bursting the small bubble of nice they had created around themselves. Harry turned to look at him politely. A steely glint of hardness fortified his utterly commonplace gaze. "Sir?" He prompted. Beside him, Draco tensed as if sensing an oncoming verbal battle. Harry brushed his thumb soothingly over the palm of Draco's hand as he contrasted Lucius' sneer with his own polite, open and encouraging expression.

Lucius stayed silent for a moment, looking slightly thoughtful, weighing his options. "I'm merely stating a point that teaching and being an Auror may require the same knowledge but the methods and practices used are drastically different to each other." He finally said.  _Well, if he can be civil, so can I,_ thought Harry. "That may be somewhat true but I don't believe it to be the entire case." He replied smoothly.  
Lucius frowned. Narcissa finished her second glass of wine in one quick gulp as she and Draco shared an apprehensive glance.

"How so?" Lucius demanded, rubbing his staff subconsciously as he stared at Harry with what seemed to be less malice. "While being an Auror and a Defense professor may seem to be, on the surface, two entirely different things, they are actually quite similar." He paused to take a sip of his sparkling water. "Both professions require an extensive knowledge of defense and the dark arts along with magical creatures and how to effectively use that knowledge."

Lucius waved a hand for him to go on as he gazed at him with intrigue. Draco stared at his father with open surprise while Narcissa stared at the nearly empty bottle of wine before her. She slowly pushed it away. "The methods of using this knowledge is, as you said sir, slightly different in that as an Auror, one needs to put this knowledge into use daily in the field in an effort to actually defend themselves or others while as a professor there is no imminent danger. As a professor the methods are less practical however you are still trying to defend people. You are merely giving them the tools to know how to defend themselves rather than doing it for them."

Harry finished his explanation with the last bite of his dessert which the house elves had brought in unknowingly to him during his debate, emerald eyes glittering as he discussed the subject so loved. Lucius remained silent as he stroked his chin in contemplation. "Yes, I see the similarities. But I noticed you mentioned knowing the dark arts as well as defense. Surely as an Auror, you would find the Dark Arts abhorrent."

It was a legitimate question. For once, Lucius was not trying to one up the boy or shoot him down smugly. He himself was intrigued by this subject and Harry's argument interested him greatly. Harry leaned forward eagerly, animated. "Oh not at all. I believe that to properly defend yourself against something, you need to know and understand the things you're up against. And besides," he added as they stood up from the table, "I don't believe in the concept of light magic and dark magic."

This really took Lucius by surprise. "Really? The Saviour not believing in light or dark magic?" He joked. Draco and Narcissa stared at each other in horror. "I'll contact St. Mungo's." Narcissa whispered.  
Harry chuckled, completely swept up in the conversation. "I can see how that's strange." He laughed. "But really, I don't. For me, there is no such thing as light magic or dark magic. I believe that it is not the magic that is light or dark but that the act that a wizard or witch performs with said magic is light or dark. And even then, the whole concept of light and dark is so vague. Nothing fits into _good_  and _evil_. You can't just squirrel certain spells into boxes and say there you go, this is what it is. There's the whole moral and ethical gray area of things."

Lucius clasped his shoulder and directed him towards the tea room. " That's fascinating. I completely agree and have yet to find other's who share my view. In the wizarding community, there's a certain view on the Dark Arts that just can't be reversed. Let's continue this discussion over our coffee, shall we?"

[A battalion of medi-wizards and witches arm themselves against a loopy Lucius as they prepare to visit the Manor]

"You're magic." Draco breathed. "Well, I am a wizard darling." Harry reminded him. An hour after the dinner, which went better than anyone could have hoped, and Draco was still repeating the same phrase. "You got my father to apologise for his behaviour. To _sincerely_  apologise for his behaviour." Draco exclaimed. "You're magic." He repeated. Harry rolled his eyes. "I just won him over with my charm and wit." He teased.

"No, you had a non biased view of magic. From the moment you talked about the Dark Arts in a non biased way, you had him hook, line and sunk." Harry had been trying to teach Dray muggle expressions. "Hook, line and sinker, love. And your father, I can't believe I'm saying this, can actually be a rational, normal, civil human being."

Draco shook his head. "No wonder mother called the Healers." Harry snorted at the memory. "I have to say, having a swarm of Healers burst through the door yelling battle cries and waving wands and potions while you're having coffee and tea with your boyfriend's family is quite a show."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, onto my news. I have two pieces.
> 
> Unfortunately, this fic will end in the next four chapters. Honestly this was only supposed to be a oneshot and I just kept writing as I went and it snowballed into a fanfic with twenty chapters! I've gotten loads of good feedback and almost 5,000 views! What?! Thank you to all of you who joined me on this complete random thing, whether from the start or not. ALL OF YOU ARE AWESOME!!
> 
> Next, I'm working on a new project! If you like my writing (as mediocre as it is in this impromptu fic) then you can check it out once I publish it.
> 
> It's a first book rewrite essentially with a Slytherin Harry, a sort-of-little Harry and caregiver Snape. Basically, Snape gets him from the Dursley's instead of Hagrid and it goes from there. I'm sure you can imagine what it's going to be like.
> 
> It's actually planned and thought out, with planned plot points and chapters. What?! Planned stuff? From me? I know, crazy. But I've been doing a lot of research for it and it's literally the most thought out thing in my entire life. I'm really excited about it!!!
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading xx


	22. Hoot Hoot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, this was a hoot to write. Really, I flew through it. 
> 
> Hahaaa.... You'll get it later.

The third task was fast approaching and Harry was worn thin. Who knew one single year could be so taxing? He didn't even have any exams! Granted, he did have a death-defying tournament to somehow get through. Hermione and Draco had been helping him prepare, holding study sessions almost every night and at one point, shooting spells at him randomly in the corridors. After being hit twice from behind by a Jelly-Legs jinx he had put an end to that particular study method.

Harry actually felt quite optimistic about the last task. This was his forte, defense against the dark arts, the subject he excelled at. But as the end drew nearer something just didn't sit right with him but he could never put his finger on what it was. After his run in with Crouch he felt increasingly on edge. He still couldn't get the man's expression of complete and utter madness out of his head.

_Harry was still staring in horror at his beloved Quidditch pitch that they had defiled with their stupid hedges. They had the entire grounds to put this maze including a huge empty expanse right behind the castle. Or even between the pitch and the castle. But what did they decide? Put it on the pitch! He almost whimpered in pain. Suddenly the hulking figure of Viktor Krum loomed over him. "Ve need to talk." He rumbled._

_Harry didn't hear him, alternating between staring at his pitch and glaring at Bagman's back as he strolled up to the castle with Dumbledore. Krum tsked and grabbed his arm. He tugged the much smaller boy towards the imposing line of trees that marked the edge of the Forbidden Forest, effectively startling Harry out of his stupor. "Wha'?" He blurted out._

_"Ve need to talk." Viktor repeated urgently. "It is about Herm-own-ninny." Harry snapped to attention, rubbing his tired eyes in an effort to focus. "Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm up-um, I mean I'm listening." Viktor finally let go of his arm and sighed heavily._

_"I do not like her." He mumbled. Harry stared at him in shock. "Sorry?" Viktor seemed uncharacteristically shy. A small pink blush tinged his cheeks as he mumbled something that Harry didn't catch. He strained his ears to understand the mutters. "I can't hear you." He sighed. Viktor scuffed his foot along the ground. "I like Ronald."_

_Harry had to refrain himself from gasping dramatically. Ron?! He liked Ron?! Well, Merlin's saggy pants. How was he going to tell him that Ron was straight. "Um, well, he-you see Ron is-" He stumbled around his words trying to find the right ones when suddenly he didn't have to._

_A rustle and crack of a branch from beside them had both wizards whirling around, wands out. Harry was wide awake now, his eyes searching and scanning the impenetrable darkness in front of them. "I don't see anything." He whispered. Viktor replied in an exact replica of Harry's hushed voice. "Keep an eye out. Do not let your guard down."_

_They stood, poised for attack, in silence for a moment, ears straining to hear a sound. Then the trembling body of Berty Crouch pitched out of the darkness, chattering madly. His eyes were unfocused and unseeing, whirling around madly as he ordered an imaginary Weatherby around. "Help me get him up!" Harry barked towards the immobile Bulgarian._

_The two of them had jumped into action. They rushed to the clearly insane man as he clutched a tree for balance, talking to it as if it were Weatherby. In the back of his mind, Harry snorted at Percy's new name. As soon as his hand came into contact with Crouch's convulsing shoulder, he whirled around._

_His eyes were suddenly clear and utterly terrified. Switching from insane to sane very quickly he grasped Harry's arm with an iron fist and began to natter on about his son and Voldemort. Mere minutes later, he switched at the flick of a wand again and started whispering frantically to his old house elf, Winky._

_Harry freed himself from his grip and yelled at Krum: "I'll get Dumbledore! Stay with Krum!" He ran off in a burst of speed without waiting for Krum's answer and wasted no time in getting the adults. However, it was all for nought._

_By the time they got back, Krum was lying Stupyfied on the forest floor, practically invisible while Crouch had actually vanished into the night, no trace of him to be seen._

"You're pondering again." Draco interrupted his thoughts with one cocked eyebrow and a wry smile. Harry stared at him blankly before shaking his head. "That's ridiculous! I don't ponder." He protested. Draco rolled his eyes and went back to his book. "Yes you do. You get that glaze in your eyes, like you're having an existential crisis and cringing really badly."Harry huffed. "Not true." Draco didn't even deign to answer, merely patting Harry's tanned hand with his own pale one. After a moment, Harry sighed and closed his own book. "I need to get to Divination." He said gloomily. Draco pouted and Harry grinned slyly.

"I mean, I could stay and skip…." He suggested in faux resignation. Draco shot up and sent him the evil eye. He pointed towards the library door. "March." He ordered.

Harry laughed and landed a swift peck on his cheek before ambling off, waving one hand over his shoulder. "Bye love." He hurried to Divination, having delayed leaving to the last second. He clambered up the trap door just in time, breathless and gasping like the Giant Squid out of water.

Trelawny blinked owlishly at him behind her large round glasses. Her beads clinked obnoxiously as she hovered hesitantly near the first row of desks. "Harry, my dear boy." She wavered. "Please, sit." She waved one trembling hand towards one of her many pouffes. As Harry passed her, a whiff of sherry drifted towards him mingling with the stifling heat of the room, and suffocating him under its heady perfume. Trelawny whimpered after he passed and gazed at him in pain.

"My poor boy." She whispered, bringing one hand up to thin lips. "Destined for doom." Harry spun around in irritation. "Sorry?" He asked sternly, steel in his tone. She gasped lightly and turned away dramatically. "I've said too much." Harry rolled his eyes and stomped over to the harshly pink pouffe by the window, slouching in it irritably. He should have skipped.

Trelawny's lilting voice washed over him, fading to a drone in the background as he grew drowsy in the stifling warmth of the tower room. He gazed out through lidded eyes at the cloudless sky, lazily watching an owl circle above the Forbidden Forest as he slowly started succumbing to sleep.

He was riding on a tawny eagle owl as it soared through the dusky sky. No-he was the owl. He swooped down through a maze of graves, the haunting chill seeping through his feathers to his fragile bones. His small talons landed on the warped wood of a windowsill and he shuffled through the open window to a horrifying sight.

Wormtail lay writhing on the floor of the dark room before a roaring fireplace. The dancing tongues of flame illuminated his face eerily, casting dark shadows over it as it contorted in pain. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and a piercing scream wrenched itself from between his clenched teeth. His back arched upwards, rattling coming from his chest in place of breath, before he slumped onto the wooden floor once more, sweat drenching his clothes, his face a sickly pale colour.

With obvious effort and thinly veiled disgust, the small heaving man began to crawl towards an armchair that sat in front of the fire. Owl Harry scuffled around but couldn't see more than the back of the high arching armchair. "My Lord." Peter gasped. "Please forgive me." He raised one trembling hand only to flinch away, the pleading half-smile on his lips gone and replaced with pure fear.

"You are in luck Wormtail." A high, bone chilling, hair raising voice spoke into the near silent room. A large snake slithered over the back of the chair, tongue snaking out to smell the owl on the air. She turned away, much more interested in the delectable treat begging and scraping on the ground. "Your  _blunder_ has not ruined everything." The voice continued. "The man is dead. And soon, Harry Potter will join him." The eery disembodied voice cackled maniacally, dissolving into wracking coughs.

"My Lord, you are not well. Let me tend to you so you may rise stronger than ever." Wormtail pleaded pathetically. "I am well enough for this!" It snapped. "You need reminding again Wormtail, to not fail me once more." Wormtail's eyes widened as he tried to cower backwards. "M'Lord please no!" "Crucio!" His high screams rebounded again around the desolate room and Harry felt a searing pain in his forehead. " _Harry_ …." The voice hissed. It echoed around them, repeating and repeating, over and over again. " _Harry_ …. _Harry_ …. _Harry_ …."

"Harry!" He shot up with a yell, still screaming as his wide eyes whirled around frantically, still in the manor with Wormtail. Ron shook him again. "Harry!" Harry breathed raggedly, chest heaving laboriously. Slowly, his clouded mind shook off the haze that shrouded it. "Mate are you okay?" Ron asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Harry glanced away from Ron's frightened face to see all the other scared students staring back at him. The low conspiratory whispering finally reached his ears. "I'm fine." He muttered. Then: "I'm fine!" He announced loudly, shrugging off Ron's hands. He stood up on shaky legs and shoved everything in his bag, mumbling something about the Hospital Wing before bolting out of the room like a spooked horse.

_I need to find Draco._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! My schedule is a bit all over the place but it should be at least once a week then once this is finished, I'll start editing. Thanks for reading!!


	23. The Third Task

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine the title is witty.
> 
> THIS WAS SO LONG AGH. I'm not very happy with the ending but I wanted to get this up. Only two more chapters left! The next one will be the last one and then there will be an epilogue.
> 
> I changed the title and the summary cause its sort of gone past the Yule Ball, don't you think? Just a smidge.
> 
> I also wanted to do a shout out to emma_elm for all the comments on my chapters, your constant comments really make me happy. Thank you so much!!! <3 xx 
> 
> Any comments I get make me really happy, honestly I smile like a madwoman down at my phone when I see stuff in my inbox. <3

Draco had successfully calmed him down but the two couldn't deny that they were both skittish. When the morning of the third task dawned Harry couldn't stomach anything. His stomach coiled and flipped so many times he ended up sitting on the ground clutching his stomach for fear of throwing up.

The other champions didn't look any better. Cedric was particularly green, staring into his porridge blankly. Fleur was speaking so fast in French that her words were unintelligible and Krum was, well, being his usual stoic, silent self. A turbulent grey cloud hovered over them all surrounding them in a mist of gloom.

Hermione tsked and slapped Ron on the arm. "Ron, you're making fog!" Ron started and put his wand in his pocket sheepishly. "Sorry." Harry didn't have the energy to roll his eyes, his cloud still there metaphorically. Draco stared at him worriedly, gnawing at his thumbnail absent-mindedly.

When the bell rang, Harry stayed seated while everyone else stood up to go to classes. The champions didn't have classes for the day; instead they were going to spend the day with their families. Harry gloomily thought about his lonely walk around the lake he had planned.

With a sigh he lifted his head from the table only to nearly fall off. "Dray?" He asked incredulously. "What are you still doing here? You'll miss class." Draco sniffed imperiously with his arms crossed pompously. "My father is the head of the Board. Practically." He added with a tilt of his head. "I can miss one day of classes."

Harry stared at him in shock then frowned and shuffled forward on the bench. He flattened his Palm against Draco's forehead, his tan hand a jarring contrast to the blond's pale complexion. Draco blinked at him before attempting to stare at Harry's hand.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, still trying to look at Harry's hand, his nose scrunched up adorably, delicate eyebrows furrowed together. "Checking for a fever." Harry deadpanned, dead serious. Draco scowled and swatted his hand away irritably. He got up and began to saunter over to the door that Fleur, Krum and Cedric had disappeared through moments before; that he had disappeared through on the first night when his name had come out of the Goblet.

"What are you doing?" He echoed in confusion. Draco looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "To see my family. Aren't you coming?" Harry stared at him in shock. "Your family?" He whispered disbelievingly. Draco grinned softly. "They came to support you of course."

Harry felt a soaring happiness swoop through him. Someone came for him. He snuffled and scuffed at his face with the palm his hands. "Okay, I'm coming." He croaked. Draco laughed and held out a hand, kindly refraining from mentioning Harry's husky voice.

They walked into the large room filled with portraits and trinkets to see the strangest sight. Molly and Bill Weasley and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy standing side by side in awkward silence surrounded by chatting families mingling amongst each other.

Draco and Harry shared a shocked look before Harry detached himself from his catatonic boyfriend and made his way to the two families. He beamed broadly at both clans. He turned to Molly first. "Thank you for coming." He said with a warm smile. He thought of her as his second mother and it meant a lot for her to show up.

She smiled gently at him, taking his hand in hers. "Of course we were going to come love. We had to support you and of course, meet your new boyfriend." She smiled over his shoulder at Draco who had finally moved to stand stiffly beside his father. The dinner may have gone well but there was still some work to be done there. "But I was just saying to Bill here how it would be wonderful to see all my old haunts again."

She glanced back at Bill who seemed to be rather distracted by Fleur, who eyed him in intrigue, especially his fang earring. "You wouldn't mind if we took a walk around, would you dear?" She asked brightly. Harry saw the branch she was holding out to him and smiled gratefully. "Not at all. We can have some time together later?"

She nodded briskly and slipped her arm through Bill's. The dazed man didn't understand what was happening until his mother had successfully tugged him out of the room. Harry laughed at the pair, shaking his head fondly.

Then, finally, he turned to face the Malfoy's. Narcissa was smiling at him primly with her hand lying on Draco's shoulder affectionately. Lucius stood more stiffly but nodded amicably at Harry. "Thank you for coming to support me." He said sincerely. While Molly was his family, he loved that he'd made such a good impression on Draco's family. Rumoured Death Eaters, supporting the reason for the Dark Lord's downfall, openly, was unbelievable.

"Well we weren't going to merely sit around in the Manor while you're off defying death." Narcissa admonished slightly. Her dark hair was twisted back into a rope down her back and her regal posture cast an intimidating figure but the out-of-place smile she sported for her son's boyfriend turned her usually harsh features soft.

"Yes, and of course we wanted to support Draco as he undoubtedly will be in the throes of a panic attack in the stands." Lucius stated dryly. His voice may have been emotionless but both Harry and Draco picked up on the slight undercurrent of emotion in his overall being.

Narcissa clapped her hands suddenly, making Harry jump. Draco snickered at the embarrassed ravenette. He was used to his mum's surprising clapping. "Let's take a walk shall we?"

[Lucius tries to escape halfway around the lake but Narcissa makes him stay. Harry and Draco suspect the Imperius Curse but don't pry, crumbling in the face of Narcissa's determined smile]

Dinner arrived faster than Harry and the other Triwizard champions would have liked. The atmosphere was electric, charged with the excitement and eagerness of the other students in the hall. Harry ate dinner with the Weasley's at the Gryffindor table while Draco hovered at the Slytherin table with his parents.

Halfway through the meal, he gave in and stalked over to Harry's side, glued to his side for the rest of the meal. When Dumbledore stood up and cheerfully asked all students to make their way to the Quidditch pitch, Harry's chest tightened painfully. He turned to Draco, eyes wide with fright and shining painfully. "I can't do this." He insisted in a hoarse whisper. "I-I'm not ready, I can't do this."

Draco grasped his trembling hands firmly. "Okay, come on, breathe." He exaggerated his own breathing until Harry's returned to normal instead of being on the border of hysterical. Draco's pale silver eyes flitted around Harry's face. "You _can_  do this okay? You've prepared for this moment as much as you could and you are the only person I know that is so compatible to this type of task. You are ready."

Harry stared at him frantically and nodded slowly, his eyes sliding closed. Draco helped him up from the bench, the Great Hall emptying around them. Harry clutched Draco's arm. "Dray, if-if I don't make it I need you to know that I love you." Draco shook his head quickly. "No. You are going to get through this."

Harry cradled his face carefully in his broad hands as if holding precious porcelain. "People have died before. And I can't let that happen to me without having told you once more that I love you." Draco breathed jerkily. "Draco!" He whipped around to see his mother waiting for him by the door. "I love you too. I'll see you afterwards." He promised.

Pressing a chaste kiss to his lips, too chaste for either of their liking, he darted off, keeping his head down and trying to hold back traitorous tears. Ron walked up to him and enveloped him in a sudden hug. "I'll see you later. We'll have Butterbeer. George and Fred have already planned a party." He smiled weakly before turning away and letting Hermione have her turn.

She tackled him into a bone crushing hug, he bushy hair tickling his face. She pulled away to smile through tears. "You better come back." She ordered with a sniffle. "Or I'll learn Necromancy and kill you for leaving us." Harry couldn't stop the laugh from bubbling up. "Okay." He acquiesced. He watched as his two best friends walked slowly to the doors, looking over their shoulders one last time before disappearing.

Harry took a deep breath and stalked after the other Champions. His eyes flashed dangerously, his grip tightening on his wand. No way he was going down without a fight. As he followed the others down to the pitch, the small tinny sound of the school band filtered down through the increasingly deafening sound of students cheering.

His heart pounded in his chest, his palms were slick with sweat that threatened to send his wand tumbling to the ground and a frenzy of terror had a hold of him. His breathing sped up as they walked out into the middle of the arena. Lights blinded him, reflecting off his glasses making his gaze impossible to see and giving him time to school his features.

He drew upon his inner Snape to make his face somewhat impassive. He scanned the stands desperately as he went to stand in front of his entrance to the maze beside Cedric, having listened to nothing Bagman had just said. His searching eyes locked onto Draco's piercing ones. He held the charged stare until he could no longer, the towering hedges obscuring his view as the entrance closed.

Vines snaked across each other, locking with the reaching tendrils from the other side effectively trapping him in the maze. All noises stopped. Suffocating silence surrounded him. He and Cedric shared a loaded glance before separating at an intersection with a short nod. Determination burned in Harry's emerald eyes making them as hard as the gem they looked like. He gripped his wand tightly and turned right. _Let's go_.

It was eerie in the maze. The only light that came through was the moonlight from above. It cast all it touched in grey darkness and occasional snatches of silvery light, making the shadows roil with movement. The cold harshness of it all was a long way away from the bright comforting glow of the arena that he had just left.

All the hedges seem to be the same and Harry didn't know which way he was going. The Point-Me Spell had its uses but he didn't even know if the centre of the maze was north. _I should have come here while the hedges were growing. I could've gotten a map,_ he thought idly.

He continued wandering almost aimlessly, unnerved by its apparent emptiness. He checked his watch automatically, forgetting momentarily that it had stopped working after his little dip in the lake, and cast a quick _tempus_. Twenty five minutes in and nothing had tried to kill him. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

After a false alarm that turned out to be Cedric running away from a Blast-Ended Skrewt and several dead ends after that, he finally ran into a creature. A Dementor glided towards him silently. The world turned monochrome around him and a deathly cold clutched onto him but with surprising clarity of mind, Harry shot a Patronus at the horrible monster.

It stumbled as the glowing stag galloped through it. Harry paused. *Dementors don't stumble*. One _riddikulus_  later the Boggart was defeated and he was returned to the strange emptiness that he was in before. The absence of magical creatures was more unsettling than the actual creatures themselves. So when he came across a strange golden mist that seemed to do nothing but turn him upside down, he was strangely reassured.

After turning himself the right way up again he continued walking deeper into the maze, the unremarkable hedges looking exactly like the last fifty passages he had gone through. Harry had no sense of direction anymore; everything was the same. Somewhere in the night, a piercing scream ripped itself from the never-ending maze. "Fleur!" He immediately cried impulsively. He frowned, frustrated that he couldn't get to her and help.

Just when he was deciding whether to say ' _fuck it'_ and try find her, he saw a flurry of red sparks shoot up and linger in the sky, marking her position. Breathing a sigh of relief he rounded the corner with more cheer than before and quickly threw himself against a hedge to avoid a stray spark from a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

_Oh Merlin that's big_. He stared at the Skrewt in horror. It was almost as big as the hedges and five times as ugly as a regular sized Skrewt. The thing inched forward and Harry saw his opportunity. He dived through a small opening between the Skrewt and the hedge, yelling when it's tail sparked and a rogue stray hit the bottom of his red and gold Tournament trousers.

He scrambled around the hedge, frantically trying to stamp out the flames with the palm of his hand. When they were out, he breathed a sigh of relief but as with the Skrewt it was short-lived. Directly behind the hedge he was lying against the blood curdling sounds of a jarring scream shattered the silence.

Acting quickly, Harry burned a hole in the hedge, growling when another scream sounded out and the hole was still too small. "Fuck it." He hissed as the broken branches scratched his bare skin leaving behind small oozing red scrapes. When he emerged from the hedge to find Krum pointing his wand on a writhing Cedric, Harry didn't think.

He cast a Stupefy, knocking Krum sprawling to the ground, darting forward to Cedric's limp body. The blonde groaned when Harry checked him for broken bones. "What happened?" He demanded urgently. "Krum….Cruciatus Curse. Think he was imperiused." The Hufflepuff groaned out, raising one slender hand to his pounding head.

Harry dropped him unceremoniously to flit over to Krum, not hearing Cedric's annoyed pained grunt. He checked to make sure that Krum was definitely out before sending up red sparks and helping up a groaning Cedric. He bound the Bulgarian's hands as an afterthought as he helped the older boy out of the narrow passage.

"He's gone crazy!" Cedric panted. "No, he's just been imperiused. His eyes were glazed." Harry retorted brusquely, wanting nothing more than to dump the guy and continue onwards, and finally get out of this maze. He gritted his teeth and propped him up against the hedge beside him. "Can you walk?" He demanded.

Cedric nodded dubiously, effectively erasing any guilt Harry might have felt upon leaving him. "Great. Good." A moment later, the two parted ways and while Harry might have been irritated at having to suspend his quest to the middle of the maze, he appreciated it greatly later.

After a ridiculous riddle from a carnivorous Sphinx, he finally caught a glimpse of a burning blue light winking cheerfully at him from the end of a long alleyway of hedges. His heart leapt into his throat restricting his breathing. He was almost there. He could get out and see Draco again. And he hadn't even been hurt that badly!

"HARRY LOOK OUT!" A voice yelled authoritatively. Cursing his bad luck and uncanny knack for attracting trouble, he looked up to see a pointy hairy something descending quickly upon him and jerked himself out of the way before it could impale him.

He saw Cedric rushing towards him from the other end of the hedges. Towards him and the giant spider trying to kill him. Harry rolled out of the way of another stabby leg, narrowly missing the snapping pincers that dived for him. Cedric yelled again and shot a beam of red light at the acromantula.

The Stupefy only worked to enrage the murderous spider. It reared its ugly head, hissing hysterically, pincers snapping as venom dripped from the sharp weapons. Cedric dived under its legs and the lethal fight ensued.

It took one distracted moment for it all to go awry. Harry yelled in terror when Cedric got knocked roughly aside by one of the spider's flailing legs. He tried desperately to crawl to the limp boy. His chest burned and blood oozed from gashes on random parts of his body. But all of that paled in comparison to the pain to come.

He really should have been paying attention to the spider. He reached one hand out to Cedric only to jerk back screaming as a blinding pain penetrated his leg. The spider lifted his leg up, bringing Harry with it only for him to slide off the thin leg with a wet sound that reverberated in the dark maze.

He screamed again as he hit the ground heavily. Dark blood flowed from his open wound, staining his ripped trouser leg with dark red and pooling onto the ground, showing up as merely a darker colour against the already black ground. His hands trembled with the pain and he tried to grip his shaking leg.

"Harry…." Cedric had roused himself from his unconscious state and dragged himself over to the gasping boy. Harry stared at him, terror and tears shining in his fearful eyes. "Cedric- I-I… my leg." He heaved tremulously. His eyes glowed in the darkness and they were frantically flitting in between his heavily bleeding leg and the horrified boy beside him.

The spider blundered about at the end of the row of hedges, crashing into each side. Harry glared at it.  _Fucking acromantula. That's how I'm going to go?!_  Cedric ripped his top and tied a length of fabric above the gaping wound in a mock tourniquet. "That should help a little." He muttered hopefully.

A shadow loomed over the pair and they looked up simultaneously to see the spider rearing up, ready to strike. They both acted fast. Two bright red lights hit the underbelly of the spider at the same time, making it shriek horrendously and keel over, it's legs curling up under it. Finally, it lay still.

The two boys caught their breath, both sprawled limply on the ground. "Think if we send up sparks we can get out?" asked Cedric conversationally as he lay on his back panting like a dog in heat. "Maybe. But then we'll probably just get sent back in later." Harry responded, equally out of breath. Cedric groaned.

Harry wanted nothing more than to just lie there and sleep for days, but with his wound he would probably pass out from blood loss if no one came to get him and then actually sleep forever. Cedric staggered to his feet and shuffled slowly over to Harry, bending down and gripping him under his armpits, hauling him up and flinging his red and gold clad arm over his broad shoulder.

Harry grunted when Cedric shifted his leg causing a jolt of pain to support through it. "What are you doing? Just go grab the cup." Cedric gritted his teeth and began limping towards the glowing cup. "No. You saved me, twice. You deserve the cup." Harry stared at him as if he was crazy. "Are you crazy?! I don't want the cup, I never did." He yelled.

"And I'm pretty much useless so just grab the cup already!" Cedric shook his head stubbornly and continued to drag him along. Harry tried to dig his one good heel into the ground but to no avail. They were now close enough to see all the intricate detailing on the silver cup and Harry felt panic rise in him.

He didn't want the cup. He didn't want to win. He didn't even want to enter for Merlin's sake. "Wait!" Cedric paused. "Let's take it together." Harry suggested. The Hufflepuff eyed him curiously. "I don't want to win. You do, you entered of your own accord. So….let's grab it together. We can split the winnings and you can have all the glory, I don't care."

The more he thought it through, the more it seemed like a good plan and the only way to make the stubborn boy stop. "Okay." Cedric agreed brightly. Harry wasn't the only one that the plan appealed to.  
They stood in front of the cup, two houses united, both with their hands hovering over the cup.

"Ready?" Harry asked. He felt elated; he would see Draco again, he had lived! Cedric started the countdown. "One, two, three!" Harry immediately knew something was wrong. "Cedric, n-"

Whatever he was about to say got cut off as the two disappeared along with the cup, leaving nothing but the platform on which the cup sat.

 


	24. The Grave Graveyard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh the second last chapter!!! Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Disclamer!  
> I did get Mad Eye's words and little speech directly from the book. They are not my words! All J.K's in that little part

Harry hit the ground with a hard thud. Cedric landed beside him with a yell of shock as they arrived anywhere but the arena they had started in. The now monochrome cup jerked out of their hands, rolling across the uneven ground.

The raven haired boy raised himself up on his elbows to catch a glimpse of a disconcerting sight. Tombs rose from unnatural mounds in the ground; some weathered and impossible to read, others recently planted in the crumbling soil. Wisps of ominous grey fog wrapped thin tendrils of gloom around the base of the crooked graves.

A large black cauldron, large enough to fit a large child, stood on gnarled pewter legs beside a large tombstone baring a ghostly Grim Reaper. Noxious smoke billowed over the edge of the tarnished rim, spilling onto the ground before mixing in with the gathering fog.

Suddenly, just as Harry's eyes adjusted to the darkness, a small figure scurried out of the hazy darkness. He withheld a gasp as Wormtail walked hesitantly over to the large smoking cauldron. In his arms he held a small dirty bundle of rags carefully, with all the fear of a new father holding a baby.

A familiar raspy voice hissed into the darkness causing the hairs on the back of Harry's neck to stand up and a frisson of unease ran through him. "Kill the spare." Wormtail grimaced but obeyed the seemingly disembodied, raising his wand with one trembling hand. He hesitated just a moment but it was enough for Harry to remember where he had heard that voice before. His eyes widened and he yelled incomprehensibly as the bright green streak of light hit a puzzled Cedric.

Harry watched in horror as Cedric's body collapsed to the ground and stayed there, the irreversible sleep of death shrouding him morbidly. Before he could even register his fellow champion's demise, Harry's body jerked uncontrollably and his back hit the hard stone of the Grim Reaper, who's scythe moved with a high grating sound to trap him. He struggled against the statue but in vain. He was trapped.

Now utterly helpless to the Dark Lord's whim, he could only watch on as Wormtail started the ritual. He dropped the baby-like Voldemort into the bubbling smokey cauldron with thinly veiled relief. As the inhuman _thing_  hit the bottom of the cauldron with a dull thud Harry couldn't help but desperately wish for it to drown. But to no avail.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" At his wave of a wand, a thin trickle of bone dust emerged from the dirt beneath Harry and dumped itself into the cauldron.

With jerky movements, Wormtail lifted a knife that glinted dangerously in the low light.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master ." He whimpered. The knife flashed and with a sawing noise, his severed arm fell harshly to the dirty ground. Peter held back his screams and clutched his stump trying in vain to hold back the steady stream of blood. Still biting his lip fiercely, he hobbled over to the cauldron.

His face was green with the sick action of dropping his twitching arm into the overflowing cauldron. Harry felt bile rise in the back of his throat. The surface of the water, now clear of smoke, glittered red as if faceted with millions upon millions of blood red rubies. A horrendous stench pervaded the air; a smell of something rotting, and death.

Hunched over in agonising pain, Wormtail approached Harry slowly, who screwed his eyes shut as if that would stop him. Now that his master was in the process of being revived, he could take at least a little time in finishing it. "Blood of the….enemy….f-forcibly taken…you will, you will resurrect your foe."

His tremulous breath puffed across Harry's cheek. A sharp stinging pain made him cry out loud. Wormtail fumbled in his pockets and held a glass phial up to the streaming cut. As soon as a drop of his blood hit the red water in the cauldron, the liquid turned a blinding white.

Wormtail slumped to the ground and Harry resumed his frantic attempts to escape from his bonds as a pillar of white smoke bloomed from the cauldron, clouding his view of every thing. _Please have drowned. Please let something have gone wrong._

But through the smoke a cold voice cut him like ice; "Robe me."

The smoke dissipated, melting into the hazy fog and revealing the terrifying figure of a robed skeleton with burning red eyes and a snake like face.

His nose was mere slits in his face and his red eyes glowed malevolently, barely any pupil in the reptilian eyes. The reptilian skeleton breathed deeply and ran bone fingers over his hairless head.

With a feral and steel grin, the man reopened his terrifying eyes and took the gnarled stick of a wand handed to him by a quivering Wormtail.

Harry gulped.

Lord Voldemort was back.

[Everyone in the stands were getting bored. Narcissa's eye was beginning to twitch after having to stop Draco from physically eating his fingers after chewing all his nails]

Harry fell face first into the ground, the smell of freshly cut grass invading his senses, hyperventilating madly. He clutched Cedric to him like a lifeline. It took a moment for the crowd to realise what was happening but when they did understand, they fell into hysterics.

Teachers, parents and students alike flew down the stands to the gathering crowd. But Harry was oblivious to it all, keeping Cedric in his arms, refusing to let him go and protesting loudly. Flashes of his ordeal in the graveyard kept hitting him harshly.

_Death Eaters appearing randomly around their resurrected Dark Lord, forming an obedient circle around him._

Amos Diggory ran out of the stands, screaming at the top of his lungs, desperate to reach his only son.

_Lucius kneeling at Voldemort's feet, victim of his disdain, with Crabbe, Goyle and Bellatrix all desperate to touch their revered leader._

Cedric was wrenched out of his arms and Dumbledore stared sternly at him over the top of his half moon glasses as he babbled about Voldemort's return, wanting him, _needing_  him to understand.

_Voldemort wrenching him from his bonds with an easy declaration of battle. His wand flying towards him. Bright flashes of lights as the Cruciatus curse send sudden waves of bone shattering pain through his body._

Moody led him away from the crying crowed just as Draco fought his way through the throng, his pointy elbows finally useful for something other than poking Harry awake.

_The two beams of light connecting with a boom of power. Harry's Expelliarmus and Voldemort's Killing Curse meeting in the middle of the dueling pair, creating a secluded circle of magic that none of the Death Eaters could break through._

Mad Eye forced him into the chair roughly before clunking around his office, rifling for something.

_Golden bolts of magic spearing from the connected spells and the ghosts of people long dead spilling from the Dark Lord's wand, encouraging him. His father. His mother._

Moody tried to speak to him but Harry was still out of it. The grizzled Auror jerked strangely as he spoke.

_"When the connection is broken…..we will give you time but you have to run okay? Get to the Portkey." His father, telling him what to do, there to help him. Him, jerking away and breaking the never-ending chain, diving for the Portkey, barely grasping Cedric by his fingertips before he disappeared to the sound of an infuriated howl echoing._

"What?" Harry slammed back into the presence, blinking heavily. Mad Eye twitched and his tongue flicked out of the side of his mouth. "He forgave them, then?" He asked calmly.

"Those treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky."

Harry was confused until Moody began to twitch and shift. He came to the horrific realisation when Mad Eye shifted into the gaunt like Barty Crouch Junior. Alastor Moody was the Death Eater at Hogwarts. It wasn't soon after that Albus burst through the door and captured Barty, subjecting him to a harrowing investigation under Veritaserum.

The next thing Harry knew, he was waking up in the unfortunately familiar setting of the hospital wing to the indignant shouts of Draco. "You will let me through! That is my boyfriend lying in that bed and I will be let through. My father will hear about this!"

Harry groaned. "You are so loud." He grumbled. Draco gasped and skirted around an irate Madam Pomfrey, rushing to Harry's beside before halting suddenly and hovering anxiously near him.

"Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? Are you broken? Do I have to fix you?! Oh my god are you going to die?!" Draco reached what Harry liked to dub 'shrieking point'. His hands fluttered uselessly in the air above Harry's body. The boy laughed at his flustered boyfriend, flinching at the twinge in his side.

"Dray, I'm perfectly fine. Just a bit sore." He assured. Draco sighed in relief. Then he hit Harry multiply times in various places. Harry tried to evade his angsty boyfriend but to no avail. "What are you doing?!" He demanded. "That's - for - making - me - worry - about - you!" Draco exclaimed in between each hit.

Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed his wrists. "I'm sorry, okay? It's not like a planned it." He chided gently. Draco slumped in his hold. "I know. What happened?" He asked after a beat. Harry shivered at the memories. "Voldemort's back." He announced grimly.

Draco stared at him in horror. "He's back?" His voice was a ghost of a whisper. Harry nodded. Draco's expression hardened determinedly. "We'll work it out." He promised. "Together. Somehow." He added.

Draco climbed onto the bed and settled in beside his boyfriend, burrowing his head into the crook of his shoulder. Harry nodded, rubbing his hand up and down Draco's arm comfortingly. "Yeah. Somehow."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)


	25. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end. It feels so weird to have finished this. This has been my baby for the past....good few months! Almost a year I think. I'll get all mushy in the end note but I'd like to say a quick thank you to everyone who read this, in case people don't read the end note :)
> 
> So, THANK YOU! All of you are so awesome and I am astounded at the amazing response this got. All of you made me insanely happy throughout this :)

Students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang milled around the courtyard. Goodbyes rang through the crowd as people promised to stay in touch and meet up. Harry and Draco stood by a wall, watching as Hermione glared at the two boys standing closely a little ways away from them.

Krum and Ron were engaged in deep conversation, with the Bulgarian gesturing enthusiastically at the red head. Ron had a hint of a blush spreading across his face and reaching up to his ears and down to his neck. He shifted awkwardly, clearly embarrassed at the topic of their conversation.

Ron nodded and Krum smiled brilliantly. It was the first time he had seen the man smile so broadly, Harry thought idly. Krum walked away jauntily, but not before quickly placing a light kiss on Ron's cheek, making the poor boy burst into flames.

As Ron walked over to them in a daze, Hermione huffed and crossed her eyes. Harry and Draco watched in amusement as she gritted her teeth. "Of course he's bi. Of course he gets the hot Quidditch player." She grumbled.

"I thought this was all about strengthening international relations." Harry teased. She scowled at him and snuffed primly. "Of course it was. But he was also nice to look at." She mumbled afterwards. Draco laughed lightly while Harry laughed with no restraint.

Ron finally reached their small group. Harry grinned at him slyly, taking way too much joy out of teasing his friends. "How did that go?" Ron stared at him utterly out of it. "He…we're meeting up over summer. He said…..Quidditch practice…." He trailed off slowly.

Draco laughed at his plight. Ron scowled and punched him in the arm as revenge, promptly getting Hermione on his case for using violence. Draco chimed in every now and again, obviously playing the victim as he so loved to do.

Harry chuckled as he watched his favourite people playfully argue. The sun warmed his face and he felt more at peace in that moment than he had in the entirety of the past three months.

Despite the looming fear and danger the Dark Lord presented, in that moment, Harry was certain that they would find a way to defeat him. He watched Draco ruffle Ron's hair childishly as the Weasley scowled at him ruefully, Hermione still ranting about unnecessary violence.

As long as he had his family, he could face Voldemort. And take him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Fin!
> 
> Thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I was blown away by the response this got. This originally was supposed to be a oneshot, maybe a twoshot and it snowballed into twenty five chapters! Like, what?!
> 
> I love all of you who read this as we went, and even the ones who might read this in the future. I hope I made you guys as happy as you made me with each update.
> 
> Okay, this is too sappy for a fanfic now. I'm gonna go......
> 
> I will definitely have more projects to come so keep an eye out for those if you're interested :)


	26. The New Fic is out!

Hi guys! Remember that fic I spoke about months ago? The Slytherin Harry Potter one? Welp, I finally uploaded it.

_So early Rebecca?_

I know, I know but I just couldn't wait.

_Wait.....SARCASM DETECTED WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP *sarcasm police zoom in on tricycles*_

Okay, okay yes it's late but better late than never right? Right? Say right.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19383202/chapters/46121293

Feel free to check it out!

 

MWAH xx


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